Arms Delivery Process From Moscow to Yerevan Underway

Armenian Defense Ministry spokesman Artsrun Hovhannisyan said that the process of arms delivery from Russia to Armenia under a credit agreement in the amount of $200 million is underway.

YEREVAN (Sputnik) — The process of arms supply from Russia to Armenia under a credit agreement is underway, Armenian Defense Ministry spokesman Artsrun Hovhannisyan said Tuesday.

On April 15, the Armenian government approved a draft protocol on implementing provisions of the agreement signed with the Russian government in 2015 on providing Yerevan with a state export loan in amount of $200 million to finance deliveries of military products.

"The process of weapons delivery to Armenia under the credit agreement in the amount of $200 million has been underway for a long time, but I cannot say what exactly has been delivered," Hovhannisyan told journalists, without specifying the terms of delivery due to "national security interests."

On April 7, Armenian Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan asked head of the Russian government Dmitry Medvedev to instruct Russia’s state arms exporter Rosoboronexport to speed up the conclusion of the contract related to the supply of military equipment to Armenia.

Moscow supplies both Yerevan and Baku with weapons, maintaining a balance of interests, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said last month.

In early April, Armenia and Azerbaijan accused each other of provoking hostilities in the Azerbaijani breakaway region with a predominantly Armenian population known as Nagorno-Karabakh. The sides reached a ceasefire deal on April 5.