We Are Not Planning to Bind Our Entire Economy to Arms Acquisition, Says Papikyan

We are placing our hopes on ourselves, and, of course, in this context, we believe that peace is the path that will neutralize the risks you mentioned. This was stated by the Minister of Defense of Armenia, Suren Papikyan, during a press conference, in response to the question of whether we have the means to avoid being caught off guard in a wartime situation if allies do not come to our assistance.

Regarding weapons, they are of various types. Naturally, they are defensive, ranging from various kinds of UAVs to other types of armaments. I can say that they are quite competitive and already generate interest from many countries,” he said.

Speaking about the plans in terms of armament, Papikyan stated: “The armament continues and must continue because it is impossible to have a professional army without armament.”

Addressing the defense sector expenditures, the Minister of Defense noted: “According to my information, Azerbaijan has also reduced its expenditures, but Azerbaijan's spending is not my concern; I will speak about our expenditures. As I mentioned, the amount of monetary resources allocated to the Armed Forces has significantly changed over the past three years. I mentioned that it is 1.1 billion dollars compared to about 640 million in 2018. If you put it into perspective, you will see what significant changes we are talking about. We are not planning to enter a race and bind our entire economy to the acquisition of arms and, in essence, to the dismantling of the economy,” said the Minister of Defense of Armenia, Suren Papikyan.