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Armenian defense ministry says Azerbaijan's military drills "attempt to exert pressure"

Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry earlier said that large-scale military drills will be held in the country on March 11-15

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YEREVAN, March 8. /TASS/. Large-scale military drills planned by Azerbaijan represent at attempt to exert pressure in the context of the possible meeting between Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, spokesman for the Armenian Defense Ministry Artsrun Ovannisyan wrote on his official Facebook account on Friday.

"In accordance with the Vienna document, notifications should be issued on military drills if they involve at least 9,000 people, 250 tanks or 500 military armored vehicles, 250 self-propelled and towed artillery weapons, mortars and multiple rocket launchers. We did not receive any notifications from OSCE [Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe] and consider the planned military exercise to be an attempt to exert pressure in the context of the meeting between Pashinyan and Aliyev," Ovannisyan said.

Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry earlier said that large-scale military drills will be held in the country on March 11-15. The drills will involve up to 10,000 servicemen and 500 units of military equipment.

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