A French pledge to sell advanced artillery systems to Armenia has drawn angry responses from both Azerbaijan—Armenia’s perennial foe in the South Caucasus region—and Moscow.
“We do not consider France’s policy regarding the South Caucasus to be helpful,” Hikmet Hajiyev, an adviser to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, said on June 19.
Speaking to local media, he warned that the sale of French offensive arms to Armenia would “negatively impact the normalization of ties” between the two longstanding antagonists.
Moscow likewise condemned the move, accusing NATO member France of seeking to stoke conflict in a region that Russia has historically viewed as its backyard. Russia’s foreign ministry stated that the planned weapons sale serves to confirm that Paris “seeks to provoke a fresh round of conflict in the South Caucasus.”
“[France] seeks to exploit existing differences [between Armenia and Azerbaijan] to achieve its own strategic objectives,” a ministry spokeswoman said on June 19.
Armenia and Azerbaijan have fought two wars over the flashpoint Nagorno-Karabakh region, which is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan.
In September 2023, Azerbaijan carried out a lightning offensive into the mountainous region, effectively bringing it under its full control.
Since then, Armenia and Azerbaijan have sought—with Russian mediation—to normalize bilateral ties and delimit their borders.
On June 18, French Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu announced that Paris planned to sell advanced Caesar artillery systems to Armenia. In a social media post, he said the sales agreement was signed at a recent meeting with Suren Papikyan, his Armenian counterpart.
Mr. Lecornu declined to say how many French artillery systems Armenia had agreed to purchase.
Baku, Azerbaijan’s capital, was quick to condemn the reported arms sale, claiming that it constitutes a “threat” to Azerbaijan’s security.
Looking to Paris
Armenia responded by saying that it’s the “sovereign right of every nation to maintain combat-capable armed forces equipped with modern military assets.”Home to a large ethnic Armenian community, France has long been regarded as one of Yerevan’s staunchest supporters in Europe.
In October 2023, Paris announced the sale of advanced radar systems and anti-aircraft missiles to Armenia. It also promised to assist in modernizing Armenia’s armed forces and provide training for its military personnel.
“We stand by our defense relationship [with Armenia], even though we’re not part of the same military and political alliances,” Mr. Lecornu said.
Moscow warned Armenia that it risked “losing its sovereignty” by allowing itself to be drawn into NATO’s orbit.
Since 1992, Armenia has been a member of NATO’s Euro-Atlantic Cooperation Council.
It’s also a member of NATO’s Partnership for Peace, which aims to “strengthen security relationships between NATO and non-member countries in the Euro-Atlantic area.”
Alienating Moscow
Despite its deepening security ties with France, Armenia is also a longstanding member of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO).Established after the 1991 dissolution of the Soviet Union, the CSTO is a six-nation security bloc led by Moscow.
Along with Russia and Armenia, its other members include Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan.
But since Russia invaded eastern Ukraine in early 2022, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has sought to distance his country from its alliance with Moscow.
Last year, Yerevan recalled its permanent representative to the CSTO and declined to take part in joint military drills held in Belarus. Soon afterward, it declined to participate in a Minsk-hosted CSTO summit attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
At the time, Mr. Pashinyan said Armenia’s CSTO membership was hindering efforts to procure arms and support from “other sources.”
Mr. Pashinyan also blames the CSTO—and, by extension, Russia—for failing to avert last year’s Azerbaijani offensive in the Nagorno-Karabakh region.
In February, the Armenian leader announced that his country had effectively suspended relations with the CSTO.
In remarks to the Western press, he said that Russia’s failure to avert Azerbaijan’s offensive had “brought us to a decision that we need to diversify our relationships in the security sphere.”
Last week, Mr. Pashinyan went even further, saying—for the first time—that his country planned to leave the CSTO.
“We will leave,” he told Armenian lawmakers on June 12. “We will decide when to exit ... [and] we won’t return.”
In response to his comments, a spokesperson for the CSTO said the alliance was waiting for Yerevan to “clarify” its stance on the issue.
“We are acting on the assumption that, despite the noticeable downsizing of Armenia’s participation in CSTO events, it remains a full member of the organization,” the spokesperson told Russia’s TASS news agency.
