DISINFO: France sold useless armoured vehicles to Armenia
SUMMARY
The arguments about the advantages of supplying Armenia with French “Bastion” armoured vehicles seem rather naïve. In Ukraine, they showed their very low efficiency in real combat conditions. What does this mean in terms of the efforts by Paris? France simply sold useless assets to Yerevan, which it could not sell elsewhere.
RESPONSE
Disinformation narrative aimed at undermining Armenia's military cooperation with France and other Western countries. Armenia was subjected to disinformation attacks from Russia after Prime Minister Pashinyan's statement that Armenia's policy of solely relying on Russia to guarantee its security was a strategic mistake. The main narrative of Russian propaganda is that, except for Russia, no one has ever helped and will not help Armenia.
For decades, Russia has been the main supplier of weapons to Armenia. The Armenian PM says Russia has not delivered weapons Yerevan has paid for. At the beginning of October 2023, France agreed to deliver military equipment to Armenia. Russia announced a “radical change” in Armenia’s foreign-policy orientation.
Several other events as well, like the ratification of the Rome statute by Armenia, joint US-Armenia military exercises, the deployment of the EU mission in Armenia, information about the Western military deliveries to Armenia, PM Nikol Pashinian's refusal to participate in a summit of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) provoked an anti-Armenian campaign in pro-Kremlin media, accusing Armenia of unfriendly moves, flirting with Western countries and changing its geopolitical orientation.
Armenia has been a sovereign and independent state since 1991 when it proclaimed its independence from the former USSR. As a sovereign state, Armenia is free to decide its foreign policy, military cooperation, and alliances.
See other similar cases in our database: France wants to exchange Niger for Armenia, Armenia is an instrument in the Western plan to oust Russia from the Caucasus, The West wants to tear Armenia away from Russia; Pashinyan is a Western tool to squeeze Russia out of the South Caucasus.