France continues to arm Armenia, will provide artillery systems

French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu and his Armenian counterpart Suren Papikyan reportedly signed an agreement on the sale of the Caesar artillery system to Armenia.

Lecornu said in a statement on his X account that he and Papikyan came together as part of Eurosatory, Europe’s largest defense industry event.

Noting that their meeting with Papikyan was fruitful, Lecornu said, “We continue to strengthen our defense relations with Armenia.”

Lecornu announced that they signed an agreement with Papikyan on the sale of the French Caesar artillery system.

Caesar artillery systems are produced by the French defense industry company Nexter.

Although a ceasefire agreement was signed between Azerbaijan and Armenia on November 10, 2020, when the Second Karabakh War ended, no permanent peace agreement has yet been signed. While peace negotiations continue between the two countries, the armament of Armenia by France, Iran and India complicates the peace process. This is because actors who do not want stability in the Caucasus are arming Armenia and encouraging the implementation of pro-occupation policies. This process also complicates Turkiye-Armenia normalization.