Russian Defense Minister: "Russia ready to export arms to Armenia and Azerbaijan"

As RIA Novosti informs, a united group of forces will be formed on the Caspian Sea to rebuff modern threats and challenges, Russian Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said Monday.

"We are discussing the formation of an equivalent of BlackSeaFor (Black Sea Naval Cooperation Task group) on the Caspian Sea... which will comprise not only defense ministries but also border guards and special services to combat real threats and challenges on the Caspian Sea," Ivanov said.

He said the issue would be discussed during his official visit to Azerbaijan and that the operations of the new group would resemble those of the BlackSeaFor, comprised of Turkey, Romania, Bulgaria, Russia, Ukraine and Georgia.

Ivanov said the Caspian group's tasks would include protecting the Caspian countries from WMD proliferation, poaching and piracy as well as ensuring reliable energy supplies.

According to him, officials from the foreign ministries of Iran, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan and Russia will meet in Moscow shortly to discuss the plan.

Ivanov said unsettled border issues were unlikely to affect the establishment of the group, expected to play a crucial role in maintaining security in the Caspian region as a whole.

He also said Russia had settled all its border disputes with fellow Caspian states, but that Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan still had a number of contentious issues to resolve with Iran.

Minister stated that Russia is ready to sell arms and military hardware to Armenia and Azerbaijan. Ivanov said Russia would make sure its arms exports did not undermine the balance of forces in the region as well as its own national security and that they would meet the restrictions set by the adapted Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty, to which Russia is a party.