MOSCOW. June 19 (Interfax-AVN) - Russia is not planning to increase its military presence in Armenia, Colonel General Yuri Baluyevsky, first deputy chief-of-staff of the Russian Armed Forces, told Interfax on Thursday.
"According to our estimations, the group currently located in this republic can defend the territorial integrity of Armenia in cooperation with the Armenian armed forces, and also protect Russia's important strategic interests in the region," he said.
Baluyevsky denied information that several Russian military units have been moved from Georgia to Armenia. "We are not moving any military units to Armenia and this issue is not on the agenda in the nearest future. We envision and have already moved some material resources for our group to Armenia," he said.
Speaking about Russian-Armenian military cooperation, Baluyevsky said: "There are absolutely no indications that our group could be withdrawn in the near future at the request of Armenia."
Commenting on reports that a U.S. military group may be stationed in Azerbaijan, Baluyevsky said he hopes Baku can clarify the matter.
"It is the right of every country to decide whether to have other countries' armed forces on its territory on a permanent or temporary basis. But given our relations with Azerbaijan, our close neighbor, I think we simply have to officially ask them what the purpose is for deploying troops," he said.
Earlier, Azerbaijani media released information, citing foreign sources, that the U.S. is planning to move 15,000 troops to Azerbaijan from its 70,000-man contingent in Germany.
In response to a question about the presence of U.S. military contingents in Central Asia, Baluyevsky said: "Generally, we do not see any big tragedy in this." "Moreover, according to U.S. military men and politicians, this group is there for the period of our joint fight against terrorism and threats coming from Afghanistan."
"My comment is this: despite the presence of a powerful military coalition in Afghanistan, the production of drugs in the country has not decreased and has even increased," Baluyevsky said.