Armenia Used Russian Weapons to Seize 7 Regions, Lavrov Says

One of the first leaders of Armenia has never proposed for Russia to recognize the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh. This statement was made by the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at a joint press conference with Armenia's Foreign Minister today.

In response to a journalist's question regarding the heavy use of Russian and Belarusian weapons by Azerbaijan during the 44-day war, Lavrov emphasized that Armenia had been using Russian weapons for many years after independence, including for the occupation of 7 regions in Nagorno-Karabakh.

“Russian weapons were used to occupy 7 indisputably Azerbaijani regions and to build defense and military infrastructures there, which indicate that the calculation was to maintain those territories in the long term. According to certain analysts, the nature of those constructions shows that they were never even planned to be returned to Azerbaijan,” Lavrov said.

He added that Russian weapons are also used in Africa. He stated that the presence of Russian weapons in various countries does not mean they are used everywhere for purposes that would satisfy all parties involved.

Regarding unfulfilled arms supplies to Armenia, Lavrov stated that the issue was discussed today, is regulated, and payments have been redirected to other purposes. “There are no contradictions regarding new supplies. We are in a situation where we are again compelled to fight against all of Europe, which has pushed the Nazi slogans to the forefront in support of Zelensky’s regime. In this situation, a large amount of modern weaponry is being supplied to Ukraine, and this requires an answer from us,” Lavrov noted.

He is confident that Armenian partners understand that in this situation, not all obligations can sometimes be fulfilled within the set time frames. However, he assured that all measures stipulated by the contracts are being transferred to Armenia, and the process will continue.

As for purchasing weapons from other countries, Lavrov stated that they are not against it, as it is Armenia's choice.

Lavrov reiterated that no one can blame Russia regarding the Nagorno-Karabakh issue, as for nearly two decades, Russian leaders—Putin and Medvedev—have taken steps and made proposals for resolving Armenian-Azerbaijani relations.

The head of the Russian foreign policy department recalled the compromise proposal to return 5 regions to Azerbaijan, retaining the Kelbajar and Lachin regions as an intermediate phase to connect Armenia and Karabakh, leaving the final resolution of the issue for later. According to the Russian Foreign Minister, this proposal has been rejected multiple times.