YEREVAN. – Speaking on the air of state-funded Public TV Company of Armenia, Movses Hakobyan, Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Armenia, assured that the armed forces are ready for the resumption of war.

“The adversary [Azerbaijan] perfectly realizes that,” he added. “And this is the main guarantee of non-resumption of war.” 

Hakobyan noted that Armenians are always obligated to have a strong army.

“The region where the Armenian people live is complex, full of contradictions,” he explained. “And we have made a conclusion from our history that the cause of all misfortunes is [the fact of] not having an army.”

When asked whether resumption of hostilities is possible amid the forthcoming presidential election in Azerbaijan, the head of the Armenian army general staff said as follows: “As a military, I never rule that out. But the ratio of [armed] forces at this point is such that the adversary can’t carry out any [military] task. From military viewpoint, today we are in a favorable situation.”

Hakobyan stated that the seven-year program for the modernization of Armenia’s armed forces is a quite comprehensive document, and its objective is the long-term planning and ensuring of the country’s and Nagorno-Karabakh’s (Artsakh) guaranteed security from external aggression.

“We will carry out what will prevent the resumption of war,” he added, speaking about measures of restraint. “Second, if we assess the situation that the adversary will resume the war, we will be hitting such strikes that it will be unable to go on the offensive in an organized manner.”

Also, chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Armenia noted that even though the human factor will always exist, they will technologically strengthen the security of the border.

“Our objective is to ensure the life and security of our soldier by introducing technical means,” Movses Hakobyan said, “which is also more reliable, and gives good results.”