Israel Will Halt Arms Supplies to Azerbaijan: Armenian Ambassador in Israel

Israel may stop supplying weapons to Azerbaijan within two to three days, stated Armen Smbatyan, Armenia's Ambassador to Israel, in an interview with Factor.am.

He noted that such promises have been made at the level of the Israeli government. “I believe that in this situation, Israel will stop supplying arms to Azerbaijan. We are collaborating with the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs; there are certain influential people in the presidential office. It seems they are on the path to halt the arms supply within two to three days. I have been given a verbal promise at an official level. This is not easy; we are trying to influence, using all available channels—including local communities, media, and Jewish friends—everyone is working on this. I think it may be successful within two to three days,” he said.

It is recalled that on October 1, it became known that the ambassador was recalled to Armenia for consultations. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that for official Yerevan, Israel's approach to supplying arms to Azerbaijan is unacceptable.

When asked what clarifications he presented to the Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs during the consultation, he said, “We have complaints about the arms being sent; we are trying to do everything we can to stop it. We are trying to influence from various avenues so that they do not supply weapons—at least in this war situation. We understand that this is being supplied under contracts from 2015, but in a war situation, we ask that they refrain from sending arms; these negotiations are ongoing.”

Azerbaijan has purchased millions of dollars' worth of military equipment from Israel. Due to military cooperation between Azerbaijan and Israel, in 2017, Baku acquired Skystriker and Hermes 900 strike and reconnaissance drones. The leading Jewish outlet, the Jerusalem Post, reported in 2017 that the deal for acquiring Skystriker attack drones was valued at $137 million. Meanwhile, a Russian independent research organization engaged in defense and security issues, ACT, published data on May 1, 2018, stating that Azerbaijan bought 15 Hermes 900 UAVs from Israel, with an average price per unit reported at $30 million.