Azernews.Az

Russia has assured Baku that it will not use the weaponry withdrawn from Georgia and based in Armenia against Azerbaijan, the Foreign Ministry spokesman said.

"Azerbaijan hopes that Russia will not allow Armenia to strengthen its aggressive policy," Khazar Ibrahim told Radio Liberty.

He said that Azerbaijan's relations with Russia were on a high level and the former expressed concerns over the issue during talks between the two countries. "Russia always assures us that its cooperation with Armenia won't be directed against Azerbaijan and we hope that this will be so," the spokesman said.

Ibrahim also said that Russia, as a co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group brokering settlement to the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh, was well-informed about "the region's sensitiveness".

Early last week, reports quoted Azerbaijani Defense Minister Safar Abiyev as saying that part of Russia's military machinery withdrawn from Georgia has been stationed in Upper Garabagh, an Azeri region under Armenian occupation. The spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry Vyacheslav Sedov rebuffed the reports, saying they were not based on any facts.

Sedov said all the arms moved from Georgia to Armenia had been stationed in the Russian military base in Gumri. "Stationing these arms in other regions, including Upper Garabagh, is out of the question," he added.