The RF foreign office does not make any comments on anonymous sources’ statements, especially ones on arms supply contracts, the Press and Information Department, RF foreign office, told NEWS.am, responding to a question concerning the reliability of reports on a contract for the supply of S-300PMU2 Favorit air-defense system between Rosoboronexport and the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan. The information was reported by Vedomosti.ru.

As to whether the possible sale the air-defense system to Azerbaijan by Russia is illogical, as Russia, one of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs, is actually supplying arms to one of the parties to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the one making regular warlike statements, the source said: “The Russian side has repeatedly pointed out the absence of international bans on the export of S-300, except for the states the U.S. Security Council imposed military sanctions on. From the military viewpoint, this air-defense system is a purely defensive one and, therefore, cannot disturb the balance of forces in the region.”   

In its military cooperation with Armenia and Azerbaijan, Russia sees to it that no destabilization take place in the region. “We assign primary importance to this aspect,” the source said. So there are no ground for speculations that Russia’s military cooperation with Armenia and Azerbaijan in any way contradicts Russia’s role as OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair and mediator in the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process, the source said.