National Security Advisor of the USA John Bolton, during his first official visit to Yerevan, told Nikol Pashinyan that American weapons are better than Russian weapons, therefore it’s better to ease the dependency on Russia and start to buy American weapons. ARF faction head Armen Rustamyan commented on this, “I consider Bolton’s visit to be a very important and meaningful one. We know how important this region is in world politics. The implications that Mr. Bolton made have importance for the region and for Armenian foreign policy. Armenia presents itself in the same way in Russia, in Brussels, and in Washington. We need to show everyone that we are not against having good relations with anyone, and that comes from our own natural necessities.”
Regarding the sale of weapons, Rustamyan said, “The mediators either should not sell anyone weapons at all, or they should sell weapons in such a way that the balance is not affected. They cannot sell Azerbaijan more weapons so that Armenia falls behind.”
Rustamyan said that he is worried about the issue raised in Baky of getting rid of the 907th resolution created by ANCA. “This resolution bans selling weapons to Azerbaijan since it has been proven that they are the aggressor. This resolution contains support for Artsakh, which is very important. Reviewing the resolution is very worrisome for us.”
When asked if Russia will be upset if Armenia purchases weapons from the US, Rustamyan said that Russia needs to understand the simple logic: mediators either should not sell anyone weapons or they should sell them in such a way that the balance remains unaffected.
Hripsime Jebejyan
