Armenia Seeks Israel to Halt Arms Supplies to Azerbaijan

Armenia wishes for Israel to cease arms supplies to Azerbaijan, but the Armenian side does not condition this on improving relations with Israel. This was stated by Armenia's Deputy Foreign Minister Grigor Hovhannisyan in an interview with The Jerusalem Post.

According to him, Armenia would 'welcome the situation' if Israel acted like the United States and most European countries, refraining from supplying arms to either Armenia or Azerbaijan. Hovhannisyan emphasized that the conflict has no military solution and that arms sales to Azerbaijan only provoke an arms race. He stressed that Armenia wants its friends to understand that selling arms to Azerbaijan 'is beyond a mere business transaction and has consequences.' He stated, 'We are not a very rich country, and we have to divert a significant part of our GDP for deterrence every time Azerbaijan receives equipment from Israel.'

At the same time, he added that Armenia does 'not exclude the possibility of cooperation with the Israeli defense sector.' Hovhannisyan noted that this is not a prerequisite for improving relations, 'since we know that certain third countries are also doing the same thing.'