Armenia Signed $250 Million Contracts with Russia in 2021, But Weapons Not Supplied

The Secretary of the Security Council of Armenia, Armen Grigoryan, recently made an official statement on Public TV. He shared his views on a proposal that originated from Russia, suggesting that if arms are sold to Armenia, it will subsequently harden Armenia’s stance on various matters. This notion has sparked a significant discussion and raised several concerns.

Armen Grigoryan shed light on the fact that from the start of the year 2021, Armenia had engaged in contracts with Russia amounting to about 250 million. However, he expressed his disappointment and concern as the weapons required as per the agreements were not delivered by Russia as expected.

Grigoryan posed a rhetorical question, “How did it happen that we need to diversify security?” He provides an answer to this question by detailing the situation. He says that Armenia had attempted to purchase weapons from the Russian Federation from the year 2021 onwards. Contracts were signed and a comprehensive reform concept for the army was developed in collaboration with Russia with the aim of implementing these reforms jointly.

However, contrary to the expectations of fruitful reforms, Armenia faced attacks in May and November. Further compounding the issue was Russia’s failure to provide the weapons that were needed, more specifically, the weapons that had been purchased. Armenia had signed contracts worth 250 million, all of which commenced in 2021. As a result of this situation, Armenia began the search for new partners, which include notable nations such as India, France, various EU countries, and many others,” added Grigoryan.

Armen Grigoryan continued by providing some data on Armenia’s military-technical cooperation. In the year 2020, he stated that 96 percent of Armenia’s military-technical cooperation was with Russia. However, after January 2021, several contracts worth billions of dollars were signed with various countries. Interestingly, Russia’s share in these contracts was less than 10 percent.

Grigoryan emphasized this drastic decrease by stating, “In other words, from 96 percent, military-technical cooperation with Russia has reached less than 10 percent,” This highlights the significant shift in Armenia’s military-technical cooperation and has important implications for its future security strategy.