ArmInfo.The reaction of official Baku to military-technical cooperation between Armenia and France is puzzling. Any country has the sovereign right to have an army armed with combat and modern military equipment. This is stated in a statement by the Armenian Foreign Ministry, against the backdrop of yesterday's threats made from Baku.
The Armenian Foreign Ministry recalled that the Republic of Armenia recognizes the territorial integrity and inviolability of the borders of all its neighbors.
"Armenia and Azerbaijan have agreed at the highest level that they recognize each other's territorial integrity and sovereignty based on the 1991 Declaration of Alma-Ata. The Republic of Armenia adheres to this principle and has no ambitions beyond its internationally recognized territory of 29,743 square kilometers "The Republic of Armenia has proven this approach in practice by demarcating four villages in the Tavush region of the Republic of Armenia and the Gazakh region of the Republic of Azerbaijan. We call on Azerbaijan to put an end to the occupation of vital territories of more than 30 villages of the Republic of Armenia," the Armenian Foreign Ministry said.
Official Yerevan also noted that Azerbaijan's practice of predicting regional escalation at every opportunity makes one think and confirms the analysis of a number of centers that Azerbaijan will do everything to disrupt the process of concluding a peace agreement with Armenia in order to start a new aggression against Armenia after the COP29 summit in Baku in November 2024.
"We draw the attention of the international community to this, as well as to the fact that official Yerevan's proposal to conclude a peace agreement within 1 month remained unanswered by official Baku," the Armenian Foreign Ministry summed up.
On June 18, the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan made threats against Armenia against the backdrop of a message from the Minister of the French Armed Forces, Sebastien Lecornu, about the signing of a contract for the supply of French CAESAR self-propelled artillery systems to the RA.
"The fact that, despite the warning from the Azerbaijani side, France is supplying lethal and offensive artillery and other types of weapons to Armenia is further evidence of France's provocative activities in the South Caucasus region. The leadership of Armenia and the dictatorship of Macron will bear full responsibility for the creation of a new hotbed war in the South Caucasus," the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense cynically stated.
And this is against the backdrop of the fact that this year Azerbaijan, despite assurances of commitment to peace, has increased its defense budget and is actively importing weapons from Israel, Turkey, Pakistan, Serbia and other European countries. Thus, Azerbaijan imagined that now they would actively arm themselves, but at the same time they would dictate to Armenia what is possible and what is not.