PARADIGM
21 Jul 2018

Azerbaijan wanted to drive a wedge in Armenian-Russian relations by purchasing weapons from Russia

Armenia should fight against the sale of Russian weapons to Azerbaijan: Russian expert

Azerbaijan buys any weapons and ammunition from all those countries that sell them. As for the sale of Russian weapons, this is an unpleasant fact against which the Armenian authorities must fight. Military analyst, chief editor of the Russian “The New Defence Order. Strategy magazine” Leonid Nersisyan does not believe that the previous authorities adequately fought against the supply of Russian weapons to Azerbaijan.

How and by what means? In response to this question, the analyst notes there is a strong lobbying of the military-industrial complex in Russia. “We cannot forget about the business interests of some regions, but at least we could have tried to prevent the supply of certain types of weapons, for example, ‘Smerch’, which is very dangerous for the civilian population," Nersisyan says.

As an effective means of struggle, he also singles out the diplomatic method. According to Nersisyan, the hands of the former Armenian authorities were tied; and the low legitimacy, as well as the weak positions of recent years, made it impossible to negotiate effectively. “With these supplies, Azerbaijan also wanted to drive a wedge into Armenian-Russian relations. It is their dream. I think this circumstance is not the only reason. Political significance is very high in the purchase of weapons,” the expert emphasizes. Find the details of the conversation in the program “Paradigm”.