At a press conference in Moscow titled “Armenia’s internal situation and its impact on foreign policy,” former Armenian Defense Minister Arshak Karapetyan stated that nearly 90% of the military equipment purchased by Armenia from Western countries is unusable due to technical or other issues.

“Based on my information, nearly 90% of what they [the authorities] bought—though I won’t name the countries to avoid offense—is unusable for various reasons. Some are inoperable due to technical issues. For example, they bought artillery without the corresponding shells, which follow different standards,” Karapetyan said, as cited by Sputnik Armenia.

He noted that Western-made shells are significantly more expensive than Russian ammunition, and Armenia’s economy is not equipped to handle such expenditures.

Armenia has increased its defense cooperation with France and India. Yerevan began receiving military aid from Paris in 2023. In June 2024, Sébastien Lecornu announced that Paris and Yerevan had signed a deal for CAESAR howitzers. Prior to that, Armenia’s Defense Ministry and the French firm KNDS signed a military-technical cooperation agreement.