ArmInfo. If you look at the last decade, it seems that Azerbaijan has armed itself much more than Armenia. French President Emmanuel Macron stated this on July 18 at a press conference following the fourth summit of the European Political Community in London, referring to the situation in the South Caucasus region. His words are quoted in his Twitter microblog (X) by the French Ambassador to Armenia Olivier Decottignies.
"And if my memory serves me right, but correct me if I'm wrong, Azerbaijan really started a war, and a terrible one, in 2020," the French leader said.
In the context of French arms supplies to Armenia, Macron expressed the belief that it is normal for allies and partners to supply weapons and ammunition for their own defense: "We do this with many other European countries. It is normal to simply respond to a request from a sovereign country that wants to arm itself and feels , which may be subject to aggression from another country."
However, he added that he had never heard from Prime Minister Pashinyan about plans for war or aggression: "Negotiations on border delimitation are still underway. I am proud that we signed a memorandum on border delimitation in Prague based on the Alma-Ata Declaration. I I hope that the negotiations will be successfully completed."
At the same time, the French leader recalled that France supports the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Armenia. "We express our support for the ongoing discussions between Armenia and Azerbaijan to reach a peace treaty with the goal of establishing a just and lasting peace in accordance with international law," Macron noted.
According to him, the prospect of Armenia is peace, the prospect of France is peace. "And I really hope that Azerbaijan's prospect is peace. And if the two countries complete a peace treaty, we will support such a treaty," Macron said.
A number of media outlets note that during a press conference, when Macron spoke about the war unleashed by Azerbaijan in Nagorno-Karabakh, one of those present at the press conference noted that Azerbaijan "regained its sovereign territory," to which the French president replied: "This is not debate, not a press conference."
On September 27, 2023, the then head of the French Foreign Ministry Catherine Colonna announced the appointment of a French military attache in Yerevan with the aim of further strengthening bilateral defense cooperation.
And already in early October, France responded positively to Armenia's request for military assistance against the backdrop of the threat posed by Azerbaijan. On October 22-23, at a meeting of the head of the French military department, Sebastien Lecornu, with the Minister of Defense of Armenia Suren Papikyan in Paris, it was announced that an agreement on the supply of arms to Yerevan had been reached. At that time, agreements were signed on the supply of three Thales Ground Master 200 (GM200) radars to Yerevan and a memorandum of understanding on the supply of Mistral short-range air defense systems. The second contract concerned Yerevan's purchase of night vision binoculars, equipment manufactured by Safran. France has already supplied Armenia with 24 units of Bastion-type light armored vehicles. In total, Armenia will receive 50 such vehicles. Azerbaijan was thrown into hysterics over Armenian-French defense cooperation.
