It’s better for Azerbaijan to have weapons which it is possible to have influence on, than those which cannot be influenced, member of the Council of Federation of Russian, Igor Chernishenko, told journalists Monday.

In his words, the presence of cannonry and missiles – regardless of whether U.S. or Turkish ones -  won’t change the situation to the better during the military actions.

“I have been dealing with the Russian-Armenian relations long ago in the framework of the parliamentary ties with Nikolai Ivanovich Ryzhkov. And of course, I have been to Nagorno-Karabakh. From Azerbaijan I got a letter saying that I was a “persona non grata”. Nevertheless, it’s very difficult for me to give a deeper assessment than our President and Foreign Minister do,” Chernishenko said.

According to him, there are very many problems which the society doesn’t fully possess.  

“The tragedy which took place several days ago is our common pain. Armenian people died, some of them being brutally killed.  Of course, this is а disaster for those who love and cooperate with Armenia,” Chernishenko noted.

But, according to him, the path is still not military. “We all realize this very well. I know that there are certain narratives that despite having its its military presence, Russia still sells weapons to Azerbaijan. Both our President and Foreign Minister speak less about this, but we understand that if we leave this market, it will be taken over by the same Turks and same Americans. And in this balance of interests, I don’t want to assume the role of a higher judge than the leadership of our country, but I think all this is done not to the disadvantage of Armenia, since our actual armed forces are on the Armenian land,” Chernishenko stressed.

In his words, this is a stronger guarantee of defense than the presence of Russian weapons somewhere. According to the MP, the Russian arms can be found anywhere in the world: Kalashnikov rifle is available in over hundred countries. “This is not to imply that we will provide spare parts, missiles and other things in full volume. This is also an element of certain suppression. And the Armenians should understand that if there is a weapon there, whose battle condition is supported from Russia, we have more mechanisms to influence it than if it were a Turkish weapon.  What is happening in Syria now that weapons are supplied from Turkey to ISIL?” Chernishenko said.