Bolton Offers Armenia to Buy American Weapons Instead of Russian Ones?

Yerevan / 10.24.18 / Turan: During the meeting on Thursday, adviser to the US President John Bolton and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan discussed in detail the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh.

"We wanted to help with what we can - whether behind the scenes or as one of the co-chairs of the Minsk Group, to see if we can help in promoting a settlement between Armenia and Azerbaijan that would be mutually acceptable for both countries. And we recognized the obvious difficulties," said Bolton in an interview with Radio Liberty.

"We really spoke specifically about the prospects of increasing direct American investments in Armenia. I told him and his advisers at the previous meeting - the Foreign Minister, the Defense Minister, the National Security Adviser - that there is a very powerful Armenian community in America. And I think that the prospects for closer economic cooperation lie precisely in the private sector, which is much better in the long term than state aid, "said Bolton.

For Armenia, the fundamental issue is full sovereignty, so as not to depend on foreign influence, he added.

When asked about Russia's role as a security factor in the region, Bolton answered that there are many other alternatives, including in the field of arms sales.

There are restrictions that Congress imposed on the government on the sale of arms to Azerbaijan and Armenia because of the conflict. But there are exceptions. "As I told the Prime Minister, if we are talking about buying either Russian or US military equipment, then we would prefer the latter. We believe that our equipment is in any case better than the Russian one. Therefore, we want to consider this opportunity," said Bolton. -02D-