Rearmament reminds about Armenia's ties with Russia

Armenian authorities have announced their readiness to consider a US proposal for the supply of weapons. The country's financial capacity does not allow any large-scale purchase of American-made weapons; it is more reasonable for Armenia to still buying armaments from Russia, the experts interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" believe.

On December 1, David Tonoyan, the Acting Armenian Defence Minister, said that Yerevan admits the possibility of buying Western, including US, weapons technologies.

The issue of purchasing Western military technologies is relevant in connection with the arms race with Azerbaijan, Samvel Agababyan, a military commentator, has explained to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent, noting that Armenia acquires weapons and military equipment from Russia at preferential prices.

"The prices of American products are traditionally significantly higher than those of Russian analogues. Even if not for the preferential prices for Armenia, Russian weapons and military equipment are still cheaper," Mr Agababyan has added.

Leonid Nersisyan, a military commentator and editor-in-chief of the magazine "New Defence Order. Strategies", believes that we can talk about new technologies of making weapons, not about the purchase of finished products.

According to his version, Armenia has no funds to make large-scale purchases. "In any case, in the foreseeable future, 95% of deliveries of heavy weapons will be carried out by Russia. Both the leadership of Armenia and the Ministry of Defence have this understanding," the commentator has stressed.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on December 4, 2018 at 11:11 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.