YEREVAN, MAY 23, ARMENPRESS. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan hopes that the military-technical cooperation with Russia will gradually become more effective, reports Armenpress.

During a Q&A session in the Parliament, in response to the question of MP Mihran Poghosyan when the agreement with the Russian side was reached on acquiring Tor air defense systems, PM Pashinyan said the direct response to this question is a state secret, but he touched upon the Armenian-Russian cooperation in all spheres, including the military-technical.

“I can say that during my meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Sochi we have talked about the necessity to further deepen the Armenian-Russian relations at all directions, including the military-technical cooperation, and we hope that this cooperation will gradually become more effective. There is a certain atmosphere of mutual trust between the leaderships of Armenia and Russia, and we hope that this atmosphere will further deepen in the future”, PM Pashinyan said.

Asked whether these air defense systems are supplied to Armenia in accordance with the new agreements or within the frames of the recent loan deal, the PM said: “We have discussed that loan deal in the Parliament also after the ratification and we never discussed such issues openly. I hope that you are not expecting, we will discuss these issues in an open format. I can assure you that the needs of the Armed Forces, the constant increase of security level are under the government’s spotlight”, Pashinyan said.

English –translator/editor: Aneta Harutyunyan