News - Security Council: Senior Armenia official was told ‘our positions will become tougher if Russia supplies with weapons’

Armenia’s technico-military collaboration with Russia has dropped from 96 percent to less than 10 percent. The Secretary of the Security Council of Armenia, Armen Grigoryan, told this to reporters Wednesday. And according to him, this was Russia's choice. "It was Russia that decided not to supply weapons and ammunition [to Armenia]. By the way, they have not yet fully fulfilled what was stipulated by the contracts. It is interesting that even in the conditions of such problems, when they [i.e. the representatives of Russia] regularly complain that Armenia buys weapons from other countries, they still do not continue [military] supplies [to Armenia] under the contracts signed in 2021 and 2022," said Grigoryan. The Secretary of the Security Council of Armenia added that how the country’s relations with Russia will develop in security depends on how Russia will respond to all the problems that exist. In response to the question as what the justification is for not making these Russian military deliveries to Armenia, Grigoryan said that Armenia has heard explanations that the main reason is the war with Ukraine. "But there are also contracts signed in 2021. I don't want to name names, but I want to say that a high-ranking official from Armenia was once told ‘if Russia supplies us with weapons and ammunition, our positions will become tough.’ And that is also the reason why they are not supplying them," stated the secretary of the Security Council of Armenia. Since 2022, Armenia has regularly accused Russia of not fulfilling its contractual obligations. Also, Minister of Finance of Armenia Vahe Hovhannisyan had announced in January 2024 that the main issues related to the purchase of weapons from Russia had been resolved. The Armenian authorities had announced earlier that Russia had not delivered the weapons and military equipment noted in the contract, within the framework of which money was transferred to Russia. The exact amount was not officially mentioned, but according to some data, it is about $250 million; and according to another data—about $400 million.