Armenia, a former Soviet republic bordering Georgia, Azerbaijan, Iran and Türkiye, has long relied on Russia as a major ally, although Prime Minister Pashinyan has angered the Kremlin by questioning the foundations of the alliance, according to Reuters.
Asked about reforming Armenia's armed forces, Pashinyan told Armenian Public Radio: "We need to understand with whom we can actually maintain military-technical and defense relations."
"Previously, this issue was simple because there was no such question and there were no difficulties in coming up with a concept. Previously, 95-97% of our defense relations were connected with the Russian Federation. Now this situation cannot be maintained for both objective and subjective reasons," Pashinyan stressed.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan
According to Mr. Pashinyan, Armenia should think about the security relationship it should build with the US, France, India and Georgia.
Mr Pashinyan said Russia had failed to do what Armenia thought it should have done when Azerbaijan launched a lightning military operation against ethnic Armenian separatists in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region in September 2023 and regained control of the region after three decades.
Meanwhile, Russia says it was Prime Minister Pashinyan's failure to control the complex rivalries in the South Caucasus region that led to the 2023 defeat of the separatists in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Meanwhile, Azerbaijan has accused France of sowing the seeds of a new war by supplying weapons to Armenia, according to AFP.
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