President Serzh Sarkisian has raised concerns with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin about large-scale sales of Russian weapons to Azerbaijan, a leading member of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) said on Friday.
“During meetings with our Russian partners this issue has been raised by the president of the republic. We have never made secret of our concerns,” said Vahram Baghdasarian, the leader of the HHK’s parliamentary faction.
“The president of the republic has spoken about this issue at meetings of the [Armenian and Russian] presidents,” he told RFE/RL’s Armenian service (Azatutyun.am).
Baghdasarian declined to specify when Putin and Sarkisian discussed Moscow’s arms deals with Baku, saying only that they are now an “important issue” on the agenda of Russian-Armenian relations.
Baghdasarian also would not be drawn on Putin’s response to the Armenian concerns publicly reiterated by Sarkisian earlier this week. “I wouldn’t like to comment because the presidents discussed that tete-a-tete,” said the senior Armenian lawmaker.
Despite its military alliance with Armenia, Russia has supplied the Azerbaijani military in recent years with hundreds of tanks, armored personnel carriers, artillery systems and combat helicopters in recent years. Russian and Azerbaijani officials have estimated the total volume of bilateral defense contracts signed since 2010 at more than $4 billion.
Until last summer Armenian officials were careful not to publicly criticize those arms deals, pointing out instead that Russia also provides military aid to Armenia. Sarkisian first voiced dismay at them in July 2014.
Sarkisian went further on Wednesday, saying that the Russian arms deliveries to Armenia’s arch-foe “could have a bad impact on our relations” “This problem requires a solution,” he told an international conference in Yerevan.
Baghdasarian expressed confidence that Moscow will heed the Armenian concerns. “I think that the two presidents will together reach a common denominator,” he said without elaborating.
Armenia is a member of the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and hosts a Russian military on its territory. CSTO membership has long entitled it to receiving Russian weapons at knockdown prices or even free of charge.