Azerbaijan, Baku / corr. Trend A.Gasimova / "The statement by the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, of a possible deferment by Russia to implement the Agreement on Limitation of Armed Forces in Europe (ALAFE) is certainly a means to put pressure to resolve this issue, but not a plan envisaging total armament," Russian politician, Head of the Political and Economic Department of Kommersant newspaper, Azer Mursaliyev, reported. Recently in his annual message to the Federal Assembly of Russia, Putin described it as practicalfor Russia to announce a deferment in implementing the ALAFE.
Answering the question on the impact of the deferment on the South Caucasus region, Mursaliyev said that this situation deals with not only the south but also the north. "One of the serious pretensions of Russia to the West is that part of the new NATO member-countries, particularly the Baltic countries, should not sign this agreement," he stressed. Answering the question on the possible impact of the deferment to expand Russia's military participation in Armenia, Mursaliyev replied " Russia has already been widely represented in Armenia, what is next? If Russia decides to expand its military participation in Armenia, it will be made without either leaving or joining ALAFE".
ALAFE was signed by States of Warsaw States and NATO in 1990. The agreement is attended by 28 countries (Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Great Britain, Hungary, Germany, Greece, Georgia, Dania, Island, Spain, Italy, Kazakhstan, Luxemburg, Moldavia, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Romania, Slovakia, Turkey, Ukraine, France, Czechia), including USA and Canada.