On 14-15th July, 1998, Igor Sergeyev, the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation, leading the delegation of Russian senior military officers, as well as high-ranking representatives of “Rossvooruzheniye” Concern visited Armenia.

Over the recent years, visits of high ranking officials of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation to Armenia have become a regular practice, and reflect the single-minded efforts aimed at strengthening military alliance between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Armenia. Azerbaijan takes note of the fact that consolidation of this military alliance has continued since the cease-fire was achieved between Azerbaijan and Armenia in May, 1994.

Present day situation of “neither war nor peace” is a cause for concern not only for Azerbaijan, but also for the whole international community. And under these conditions, the visit of the head of the military establishment of Russia to Armenia was followed in Baku with tense attention, especially given the assessment of the situation in Transcaucasus on the eve of the visit by Colonel-General Ivashov, Head of Main Directorate for International Military Cooperation of the Ministry of Defense of Russian Federation, who evaluated it as “alarming and dangerous”.

Information on the course of the visit has caused serious concern in Azerbaijan, where the officially declared following results have become the subject of particular preoccupation:

- coordination of plans for further cooperation in the military and military-technical fields, with indication of concrete time frameworks and estimated implementation costs;
- improvement of capability of the Russian military base in Armenia, its interaction with its armed forces, including improvement of a single air-defense system that implies, among other things, provision of this system with S-300 air-defense missile systems;
- plans of deliveries of “modern armaments” to Armenia, including reequipment of Russian 102-nd military base;
- joint military exercises of Russian and Armenian officers at the military training center in the vicinity of Yerevan, with participation of the Defense Minister;
- plans on reinforcement of Russian military grouping in Armenia at the expense of the reduction of Russian forces in Georgia.

The aforesaid plans, aimed at strengthening Russian-Armenian military-strategic alliance pursuant to the Treaty between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Armenia on friendship, cooperation and mutual assistance of 29 August, 1997 as well as in accordance with 18 other bilateral agreements in military-political and military-technical fields, cause a justified concern of the Republic of Azerbaijan, and seriously jeopardize the peace process on the soonest settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict.

In this connection, it is worthwhile to mention that the Armenian-Azerbaijani armed conflict remains unresolved, and, consequently, more than 20% of the territory of Azerbaijan are under occupation of Armenian armed formations and more than one million of inhabitants in Azerbaijan have become refugees and internally displaced persons in their country. All this is well known in Russia, which, alongside with the United States and France, is one of the Co-Chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Conference, empowered to settle the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict. Moscow is also well aware of the fact that persons, responsible for illegal transfers of more than 1 bln. US dollars worth Russian armaments to Armenia, still remain unpunished. Facts of arms transfers have been revealed in statements by a number of Russian officials.

Azerbaijan also took note of the fact that the Defense Minister of the Russian Federation awarded a number of Armenian senior military officers, notorious for their hard-liner statements on the issue of the settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict, with a medal "For Strengthening of Military Cooperation". This ceremony took place at a time when many states, including Russia, protested against the aforementioned tough statements not instrumental to the settlement.

In connection with the abovesaid, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan is authorized to express its grave concern with regard to plans on further development of military alliance between Russia and Armenia, implementation of which does not facilitate the settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict, achievement of peace and stability in the Transcaucasus, and damages to Russia's image as a mediator.

The Ministry also believes that arms transfers from Russia to Armenia, already made as well as planned, constitute a blatant violation of the CFE Treaty.

Taking into consideration the abovesaid, the Ministry, proceeding from the security interests of all states in the region, calls upon Russian Federation to revise plans of expansion and strengthening of military alliance between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Armenia until a settlement to the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict is achieved.

Baku, July 18, 1998