On February 21, 1997 the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Azerbaijan Republic issued a statement in connection with the facts of illegal supplies of Russian weapons to the Republic of Armenia, announced by Mr. Aman Tuleyev, the Russian Minister in charge of cooperation with the CIS countries. According to the information of Minister A.Tuleyev, for past two years Armenia has received 84 T-72 tanks, 50 armoured infantry fighting vehicles and the spare parts.

The Azerbaijani side is particularly concerned with the fact that in violation of the norms of international law as well as of the principles of the peaceful settlement of the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, these illegal deliveries were made to Armenia - a country that has launched the aggression against the Azerbaijan Republic and occupied twenty percent of its territory and driven out one million Azerbaijanis from their homes. The illegal supplies to Armenia constitute also a gross violation of the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe and complicate the search for solution of the problems existing within the Treaty.

Azerbaijan appealed to all States parties to the Treaty and first of all to the Russian Federation, with the urgent demand to take all relevant steps to identify and further eliminate the illegal weapons.

The Azerbaijan Republic called upon the Republic of Armenia to settle the conflict peacefully and to renounce the policy of military build-up.

Regretfully, the government of the Russian Federation has not yet replied officially.

The statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia of February 28, 1997 is a surprise attempt to unfoundedly accuse Azerbaijan of committing the actions which constitute the substance of Armenia's policy. One may ask a question: who is then preparing for a war - the one who is illegally and secretly acquiring weapons and is deploying them on the territory of a neighboring state, occupied in the result of the armed aggression, or the one who is drawing the attention of the international community to these unlawful actions?

The facts announced by Mr.Aman Tuleyev are far from being the only ones. The Azerbaijan Republic has the reliable information that Armenia has acquired the missile systems with the range of up to 300 kilometres capable of carrying nuclear warheads. Twenty servicemen from Armenia received training for technical maintenance and use of these missiles at one of the training centers of the Russia's Ministry of Defense at the Kapustin Yar missile base, located near Moscow. The names of these servicemen are known to the Azerbaijani side. The list of such facts is long, and the above mentioned is an expressive evidence of the continuing efforts by Armenia to build up its military potential with a view of preparing a new spiral in the aggression against the Azerbaijan Republic.

One is surprised with the lack of sincerity with which the Republic of Armenia claims that it is not involved in these actions.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Azerbaijan Republic is authorized to state that the Azerbaijan Republic has been and continues to be adherent to the peaceful settlement of the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan and is ready for the soonest resumption of the OSCE Minsk Group negotiations on the basis of the principles of the settlement adopted at the OSCE Lisbon summit.

The Azerbaijan Republic expects the active steps by the government of the Russian Federation aimed at eliminating the practice of illegal arms supplies and its consequences and preventing such actions in future.

Baku, March 3, 1997