Pashinyan: A strong and combat-ready army is the guarantee of  Armenia`s security and peace

ArmInfo. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated that a strong and combat-ready army is the guarantee of Armenia's security and peace. He made these remarks  during an address to residents of the city of Hrazdan.

"We need our army, first and foremost, for peace. We are preparing  for peace, because we understand that a strong and combat-ready army  is  vital to achieving it. A country without a strong and  combat-ready army can become a temptation for aggression. Therefore,  we must always have a strong and combat-ready army, but its task must  strictly be to defend Armenia's internationally recognized territory.  And this is a guarantee of security and peace, and the assurance that  we will pass our statehood down from generation to generation,"  Pashinyan said. 

Prior to his speech in Hrazdan, the prime minister held a meeting  with voters in Tsaghkadzor, where he addressed the issue of the  return of 300,000 Azerbaijanis. He stated that this issue is  irrevocably closed.  Armenia, the prime minister continued, should  not put the return of Armenians who left Baku, Sumgait, Kirovabad,  and Karabakh on its agenda, as doing so would invite reciprocal  agendas from the other side. 

He called this a crime against the people of Karabakh. "Today, we are  spending billions to ensure the people of Karabakh can resettle and  integrate in Armenia, yet the 'three-headed war party' is doing  everything in its power to prevent them from finding stability,"  Pashinyan noted.