Armenia accelerates Russian weapons procurement with a Russian loan 41804164.

Last February, Russia offered Armenia a list of military equipment to choose from, by making use of the USD200 million loan. Now, the Ministry of Defence will finalize the equipment to be procured. Moreover, based on a bilateral 2013 agreement, the weapons would be sold at the same price as the Russian Armed Forces, which is considerably lower than that sold in the international market.

However, the fact that Azerbaijan used Russian-made weapons during its latest offensive, sent many Armenian people to streets protesting against Moscow’s policy. Baku acquired Russian equipment of more than USD4 billion in 2010.

Armenians have been angered by Russia’s stance for not supporting their country, given that Yerevan is a member of the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), while Azerbaijan is not. This is considered a major blow to the organization’s credibility as a military alliance.

Dmitry Medvedev, Russia’s Prime Minister, defended this policy during the 7 April meeting in Yerevan with his Armenian counterpart, Ovik Abrahamyan and President Sherz Sarkisian. He said that Moscow’s policy maintains the necessary power balance in the region. He stressed that if Russia didn’t sell its weapons to both countries, they would both find other providers who would eventually sell them more lethal ones.