Baku, Azerbaijan, May 4
Trend:
The recent clashes on the line of contact between Armenian and Azerbaijani armies showed that the majority of the shells fired by the Armenian armed forces didn't explode as their operation life had expired, Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry told Trend May 4.
The ministry said that $200 million is a very small amount for a warring country and it is impossible to provide an army with weapons with these funds.
Earlier, Russia allocated $200 million worth loan to Armenia for purchasing weapons, ammunition and military equipment.
"Given that corruption and bribery are rampant in Armenia and all those represented in the country's leadership are involved in crime, it can be stated without any doubt that the major part of these funds will be embezzled by them," added the ministry.
Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry said that the operation life of the weapons and military equipment purchased by Armenia from Russia in recent years, has long expired.
Through this loan, Armenia receives unused weapons and military equipment which were manufactured many years ago and their operation life has long expired, added the ministry.
"We witnessed this during the military operations in early April. The majority of the shells fired by the Armenian armed forces didn't explode as their operation life had expired," the ministry said. "Currently, those shells are neutralized by our sappers."
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.