Armenia Rejects Russian Weapons
- 14.05.2025, 10:53
Yerevan has started procurement in India.
Against the backdrop of Russia's war against Ukraine, Armenia refused to buy Russian weapons and started purchasing arms from India and France. Thus, Yerevan signed defense contracts with New Delhi for more than $1.5 billion in 2022-2023, and with Paris for $250 million in 2023-2024. At the same time, Armenia's last defense deal with Russia for $400 million was signed back in 2021 and has yet to be fully implemented. This follows from the report of the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC) "Russian-Armenian Interaction at the Present Stage," which was read by "Vedomosti".
In particular, Armenia has purchased 214-millimeter Pinaka multiple rocket launchers, 155-millimeter ATAGS artillery systems, ZADS anti-defense systems, Akash-1S air defense systems, as well as Konkurs anti-tank missile systems, which are produced under Russian license, from India. France, in turn, will supply the republic with three GroundMaster 200 radars, Mistral 3 portable anti-aircraft missile systems and Caesar self-propelled artillery systems.
According to an assessment by the Stockholm Peace Research Institute (SPIRI), Russia's share in Armenia's arms imports in 2011-2020 reached 94%. But by 2024, it had fallen to 10%, noted the Secretary of the Security Council of the Republic Armen Grigoryan. By supplying arms from India and France, Yerevan is reducing its political dependence on Russia, says Arthur Atayev, a political scientist and specialist on the Caucasus. According to him, this is a long-term strategy, but it does not imply a final break with Moscow in the military sphere.
French and Indian weapons will not be able to fully replace the fleet of Russian and Soviet military equipment in the Armenian army, so the trend toward diversification of supplies has more of a political significance, notes Stanislav Prichtin, head of the Central Asia sector at the IMEMO RAN Stanislav Prichtin. "The Armenian military still adheres to CSTO standards, and the presence of the Russian military base in Gyumri remains a link for cooperation between Moscow and Yerevan. Therefore, the Russian share in the Armenian arms market will be restored sooner or later," the expert concluded.