The Foreign Minister of Armenia, Vardan Oskanyan, called the Russian President's proposal on joint use of the Russian-leased Azerbaijani Gabala Radar Station with the US as expected and interesting.
"Russian President, Vladimir Putin's statement did not surprise me, it was an expected and interesting proposal. It is part of a large policy and as regards to Armenia, there is no reason for anxiety from the point of view of security," Oskanyan said. The Armenian Foreign Minister said that Putin's proposal is considered by the USA not as an alternative, but as an addition to the program of establishment of missile-defense system in the Czech Republic and Poland. "If it is only in addition, it is very doubtful that Russia will take such a step," Oskanyan said, Novosti Armenia reports.
Moreover, he stressed that Armenia will study the problem. "We are holding consultations and wish to know more about what the proposal envisages," Oskanyan said.
On 7 June, as a result of a meeting with US President George Bush, during the G-8 summit in Heiligendamm, Germany, Putin highlighted his proposal to jointly use the Russian-leased Azerbaijan Gabala Radar Station with the US. The station is part of the Russian system which tracks the movement of ballistic missiles. The Russian President highlighted the key advantage of such an approach: the system will be in maximum proximity to the object being tracked and observed.
The US President, George Bush, said that Russia and USA have reached an agreement to hold strategic talks on the problem of missile-defense system.