Chief of General Staff of RA armed forces withholds comments on  consequences of Armenia`s withdrawal from CSTO

ArmInfo.There is no buildup of Azerbaijani forces on the border with Armenia, Chief of the General  Staff of the Armed Forces of Armenia, Lieutenant-General Edward Asryan, stated on March 5 at the Yerablur pantheon in a conversation with journalists when asked to assess the fact that Azerbaijan is amassing forces on the border the direction of Armenia's Syunik.

He stated that the Armenian Armed Forces are closely monitoring the  situation, the movements of the AR Armed Forces, and there are no  clusters. "I assess the operational situation as relatively stable,"  Asryan added.

On February 13, enemy forces launched another aggression towards the  positions of the RA Armed Forces near Nerkin Hand, as a result of  which four Armenian soldiers were killed.

Regarding the close location of Azerbaijani positions to the village  of Nerkin Hand, the Chief of the General Staff decided to explain to  journalists what the line of contact is. "The line of contact is a  structure in which positions are located on both our and the enemy's  sides, and if the enemy has 20 positions, then there are probably the  same number on our side, I will not disclose their number. The RA  Armed Forces are performing standing they have tasks ahead of them,"  he said.

The senior military official also informed that the investigation  into the incident in Nerkin Hand has not been completed and added  that the defense department will issue a statement when the process  is completed.

In response to the journalist's remark about why enemy forces are not  being pushed back from the sovereign territories of Armenia, the  high-ranking military officer said that he could not answer this  question because it contained a state secret.

Asryan also did not answer the question about what problems there are  with arms supplies from Russia and whether it is true that after the  war the Russian Federation does not fulfill its supply obligations.  He again referred to state secrets. "I, as a military man, chief of  the General Staff of the Armed Forces, have no right to answer your  question in this situation," he said.

The Chief of the General Staff of Armenia also vaguely answered the  question about the possible consequences of the country's withdrawal  from the CSTO. "We have not yet left the CSTO, and the rest of the  answer already contains state secrets," he said, adding that all  interaction between Armenia and the CSTO remains only on paper, there  is no practical interaction.