May 15, 2023 - 14:18 AMT
Top official: Armenia hasn’t received Russian arms it has paid for

Armenia has not received the ammunition it has ordered and paid Russia for, Secretary of the Security Council of Armenia Armen Grigoryan has said in a recent interview with Novaya Gazeta.

“In recent years, the security architecture in the world and, in particular, in our region has changed dramatically,” Grigoryan said.

Everything used to be clear and simple. Relatively speaking, we thought we could call [Russia] on the phone and say: "I have a problem." In response, they’d say: “Okay, dear, we will help.” We have tried this and can now see that this mechanism does not work. Contractual obligations are not respected. Our whole security concept was built on this, but there is no new one yet.

The Security Council chief said Armenia would be looking for new mechanisms and arms supplies, “because objectively we do not get what we ordered and paid Russia for.”

Asked about a 2021 contract for hundreds of millions of dollars, Grigoryan said several such contracts exist. “And we also expected from the CSTO to work in September last year during the aggression of Azerbaijan on Armenian territory. It didn't work,” he said, admitting that discussions about leaving the organization have indeed happened in Armenia.