The current situation in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) is rather calm, under control, there are shootings every now and then, but there is very serious silence, and the peacekeeping forces of the Russian Federation are being quickly deployed. This is what Minister of Defense of Armenia Davit Tonoyan said in an interview with Armenian Public Television.

“Peacekeeping forces are being deployed on the road from Armenia through Goris, Lachin and towards Stepanakert, after which peacekeeping forces will be deployed along the length of the borders and line of contact of Nagorno-Karabakh,” he said.

In response to host Petros Ghazaryan’s comment that many people viewed this agreement as betrayal, the defense minister said he views this as offensive because the Armed Forces and Government of Armenia and Armenians of the Diaspora did their best in order for us to be able to achieve success.

“The military-political situation was such that it is safe to say that we were acting in a total blockade in terms of supplies of arms and military equipment. What was done in terms of supply from the rear and provision of arms and equipment can be considered a heroic battle since the impossible was done. The armed forces did all they could do. We showed resistance to a great force, the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan, and if anyone asks me why we weren’t armed, I will say that we were armed, but I believe Armenia and Azerbaijan can’t be compared in terms of quantity and resources. There was clearly support from Turkey in terms of human resources and arms and commanders. We can’t forget about the thousand-man army of terrorist mercenaries that we resisted. I assure you that we made maximal efforts. We had a huge problem from the perspective of the adversary’s air defense, but the fifth generation weapons that Azerbaijan used with Turkey’s support made it somewhat impossible for us to attack,” he said.