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Armenia’s major supplier of armaments is definitely Russia, Armenian Minister of Defense Vigen Sargsyan said in an interview with Interfax news agency, referring to the issue of weapons acquisition.

“It is convenient for us to cooperate with the Russian suppliers. We have reached an agreement in the framework of the CSTO to purchase arms with prices of inner consumption, having an opportunity to directly deal with the producer. For that reason, we first of all make a choice in favour of the Russian [arms] producers,” the minister noted.

Speaking about the sale of weapons to Azerbaijan by Russia, Mr. Sargsyan said that the topic is under the spotlight of the Armenian society, especially during the periods of escalation (in Armenia-Azerbaijan line of contact), as it was the case in April 2016. 

“Each case of the usage of such arms causes a wave of emotions in Armenia regarding the people’s attitude towards Russia,” the minister said, adding that Armenia and Russia are definitely allies.

“In case the Russian armaments becomes a risk factor for military imbalance in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone, it will first of all not be beneficial to Russia,” the minister said.