Papikyan: Armenian-French defense cooperation is done for the sake of  Armenia, and is not directed against anyone

ArmInfo. For the first time, the French Defense Minister is visiting Armenia, various agreements have been signed between the two countries and all of them are new. Minister for the Armed Forces of the French Republic,  Sebastien Lecornu, stated on February 23 in Yerevan at a joint press conference with Minister of Defence of the Republic of Armenia, Suren Papikyan, touching on the prospects for the development of bilateral  defense cooperation.

At the same time, he stated that despite the deep, historical  relations established between Armenia and France in various fields,  there was no   emphasis on defense interaction. At the same time, he  expressed the conviction that this issue most likely would not have  been given such attention if not for the threats that Armenia faced.

"In fact, the existing threats forced Armenia to talk about  protection. And being a reliable partner, we are present here. As you  already know, there is great intellectual and political support for  this assistance. Our position is clear," he said.

Speaking about information attacks, Minister Lecornu, said that  France will not tolerate threats directed against it. At the same  time, he called for maintaining information hygiene and  distinguishing truth from lies.

In turn, Minister Papikyan noted that after the developments of  September 2022, Armenia set itself the task of diversifying  military-technical cooperation and began to speak publicly about it.  According to him, India responded to this desire of Armenia from the  East, and France from Western countries.

"This cooperation is important. We highly appreciate this  cooperation, which over these 1.5 years has achieved serious results  that allow us to outline the vector of long-term cooperation," he  noted.

To clarify whether this cooperation with France does not contradict  the obligations undertaken by Armenia to Russia and within the CSTO,  Minister Papikyan noted that the obligations must be fulfilled  mutually.

"It was no coincidence that I touched upon the developments of  September 2022, when Armenia was subjected to aggression and its  sovereign territories were occupied. After this incident, Armenia set  itself the task of diversifying military cooperation. This is its  sovereign right. Armenia has the right to decide with whom and to  what extent to cooperate. This comes from the interests of the  Armenian people and the state interests of the Republic of Armenia.  And we take a clear position on this issue," noted the head of the  Armenian defense department.

Regarding the question of whether this does not run counter to the  interests of Armenia's neighbors, especially Iran, Suren Papikyan  assured that the Armenian-French cooperation in the field of defense  is done for the sake of Armenia and is not directed against anyone.   "And it is our sovereign right to cooperate with both France and  Iran, and everyone should take it under advisement," he said,  assuring that Iranian partners are receptive to such cooperation.