Azernews.Az

By Trend

The cost of Armenian military equipment destroyed and captured during the hostilities, which began on September 27 and continues to this day, has reached $2.7 billion, Director of the Center for Analysis of Economic Reforms and Communication Vusal Gasimli said, Trend reports on Oct.27.

Gasimli noted that the blow inflicted on the military sphere of Armenia in just one month is 4 times higher than its total defense expenditures.

According to him, at the same time, the fact that a country with a military budget of $716 million has an arsenal of billions of dollars cannot be explained by economic laws.

"The economy of Armenia, which has reserve assets of only $2.6 billion, is severely limited to acquire such weapons,” he pointed out.

“On the other hand, the cost of military equipment that Armenia lost in a month's war violates the terms of the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe. This revealed the presence of weapons and military equipment that don’t meet the conditions of this treaty," added the director.

Armenian Armed Forces launched a large-scale military attack on positions of the Azerbaijani army on the front line, using large-caliber weapons, mortars, and artillery on Sept. 27.

Azerbaijan responded with a counter-offensive along the entire front. As a result of retaliation, Azerbaijani troops liberated a number of territories previously occupied by Armenia, as well as take important, strategic heights under control.

The fighting continued into October 2020, in the early days of which Armenia has launched missile attacks on Azerbaijani cities of Ganja, Mingachevir, Khizi as well as Absheron district.

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, the 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 the withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

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