France will supply air defense systems to Armenia

France will supply weapons to Armenia, including air defense systems. A statement about this was made by French Defense Minister Sebastian Lecornu on October 21. “Armenia must be allowed to protect its civilian population and secure its borders,” Lecornu explained. After the signing of the contracts, scheduled for October 22, Armenia will be able to “protect its skies,” the minister added. The issue of Paris providing military assistance to Yerevan was raised by the Armenian authorities earlier. On October 5, Armenian President Vahagn Khachaturian said on France 2 television that the country needs a new military partner other than Russia. “France has expressed its strong intention to help us, to support us in order to strengthen our defense capabilities <...> Our goal is to defend ourselves and stop Azerbaijan’s ambitions, because the final goal is to live in peace with our neighbor,” Khachaturyan emphasized.

Shortly before this, on September 28, the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) announced its self-dissolution effective January 1, 2024. This decision was the result of Azerbaijan’s “counter-terrorism operation” in the region, which accused Armenia of violating the 2020 tripartite peace agreements. Already a day after the start of the operation, Azerbaijan and NKR, through the mediation of Russian peacekeepers, entered into an agreement that provided for the withdrawal of the Armenian military, the disbandment and disarmament of the army of the unrecognized republic and the withdrawal of military equipment. The NKR leadership was either arrested or surrendered to the Azerbaijani authorities. More than 100,000 Armenians left Nagorno-Karabakh and moved to Armenia.

At the moment, Yerevan faces serious security challenges, which prompts it to expand the geography of its partners, notes Vadim Mukhanov, head of the Caucasus sector of the Center for Post-Soviet Studies. The reason for this is the aggravation of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict, which has gone beyond the borders of Nagorno-Karabakh. Yerevan, having drawn conclusions from the latest conflict with Azerbaijan, which showed Armenia’s serious lag in military-technical terms, demonstrates a utilitarian approach to the tasks of its own security. The Armenian government is interested in truly strengthening the republic’s defense capability, so it is not surprising that against the backdrop of disappointment in relations with Moscow, Yerevan is witnessing a military-political turn to the West, says Mukhanov.

Armenia has already received French weapons – even before the 2020 war. Greece supplied the French Milan anti-tank systems to the Armenian army, recalls Ruslan Pukhov, director of the Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies. After the start of the military special operation, when Russia’s ability to supply a number of weapons decreased, Armenia purchased Indian-made towed howitzers, he continues. Most likely, given the high cost of French weapons, we are talking about purchasing the cheapest systems, such as Mistral man-portable anti-aircraft missile systems or solutions based on them. It is most likely that they are also purchased against a loan from French banks, Pukhov believes. The Armenian leadership, drifting away from Russia, hopes to get closer to Paris through arms purchases, believing that it will help in the confrontation with Azerbaijan, but these may be vain hopes, the expert warns.