‘Isn’t the cost too high?’: Russian expert on Armenia-France military cooperation

Russian military expert Ruslan Pukhov commented to Alpha News on the upcoming purchase of French weaponry by Armenia and on the probable reasons for the Armenian-French military-technical cooperation.

“I think that direct damage is unlikely to be caused because the purchase of weaponry is a sovereign decision of each state. Russia itself bought, as you remember, ‘Mistral’ (helicopter carriers – ed.) from France; this purchase, however, did not lead to anything. Russia bought weapons in Israel and sniper rifles in the UK. No country in the world produces a full range of weapons. There’s nothing wrong with that.

However, there are two aspects here that alarm me as an expert in arms control. The first aspect is scattering. Quite recently, something was bought in India, now in France. It seems that it is not weapons that are being bought, but some kind of political support or gratitude. And, apparently, they don’t really consult with the military. How compatible is it? As you know, India has Western calibers of different artillery than the ones in service in Armenia—Soviet and Russian calibers. Therefore, there may be compatibility issues.

The second aspect is that, as I said, under the guise of weapons, countries often buy either some kind of support or some kind of vote in the UN. Armenia is under direct attack; it needs to fight with weapons. And what can France give Armenia? Let’s call a spade a spade. Well, two more Macron tweets, maybe another resolution in the Senate (of France). Isn’t the cost too high?”, Pukhov said.