Kocharyan:  French artillery acquired by Armenia without shells is  just a pile of metal

ArmInfo.The universal formula for security worldwide has always been: a combat-ready army, a strong leader, and a powerful ally. Armenia lost the 2020 44-day war in Artsakh because all three of these vital factors were  compromised. This statement was made by the second President of Armenia and candidate for Prime Minister from the "Armenia" bloc, Robert Kocharyan, during a meeting with residents of Ijevan.

"Throughout the world, the universal security formula is a  combat-ready army, a strong leader, and a powerful ally. Why did we  lose the 44-day war in 2020? Because all three factors were  undermined. They began dismantling the army in 2018. When you say  'strong leader,' it's definitely not Nikol Pashinyan who comes to  mind [laughs], unable to insert a magazine into an assault rifle.  That's the kind of commander-in- chief we have! And third, he ruined  relations with our ally," Kocharyan said, adding that all three of  these components were deliberately violated, and the results were  very harsh for Armenia.

.  The politician emphasized that the Armenian people paid the price  with immense sacrifices. He noted that the individual responsible for  these misfortunes was re-elected in 2021 and continues to "destroy  everything in his path." "He believes he received a mandate from the  people to continue this destructive work—a mandate to surrender  Nagorno-Karabakh. He unilaterally decided, on behalf of the people of  Karabakh, that Karabakh is part of Azerbaijan," Kocharyan remarked.   Kocharyan further reminded the audience that by Pashinyan's decision,  Armenia refused to purchase modern air defense systems and drones,  opting instead for Su-30SM fighter jets without their necessary  missile payloads. According to him, Armenia essentially purchased  useless aircraft because the missiles were never acquired. The  politician insisted the war would have taken a completely different  course had Armenia purchased Russian TOR air defense systems instead.  "We lost that war to drones because we had none while they had  plenty."

"Today, we are once again acquiring weaponry that we will be unable  to use in the event of war. No one wants war; we all strive for  peace, but just in case... They are buying French artillery. That is  fine, but without shells, it is just scrap metal—a heap of iron. How  will they transport these shells? Through which country? I recall  that during the 44-day war, only Iranian territory was open for such  deliveries. Given what is happening around Iran today, that border  will also be closed in a crisis because France is a NATO country,"  Kocharyan noted.  According to the former president, Armenia is once  again spending vast sums on weapons that cannot be effectively  utilized, as the purchased ammunition would last only two to three  weeks in an intensive conflict. "I have only one explanation: we  funded the French military-industrial complex so that [French  President] Macron could come, kiss him, and say, 'Thank you, Nikol is  a very good guy,'" Kocharyan concluded.

It should be noted that on September 27, 2023, then-French Foreign  Minister Catherine Colonna announced the appointment of a French  military attache in Yerevan to further strengthen bilateral defense  cooperation.  And already in early October of that year, France  responded positively to Armenia's request for military assistance  amid the threat posed by Azerbaijan. On October 22-23, at a meeting  in Paris between French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu and  Armenian Defense Minister Suren Papikyan, an agreement on arms  supplies to Yerevan was announced. Agreements were signed for the  supply of three Thales Ground Master 200 (GM200) radars to Yerevan  and a memorandum of understanding for the supply of Mistral  short-range air defense systems. A second contract concerned the  acquisition by Yerevan of night vision binoculars, equipment  manufactured by Safran. France has already supplied Armenia with 24  Bastion light armored vehicles. In total, Armenia received 50 of  these vehicles.