One of the decisions of the French President is to support Armenia, the Defense Ministry of Armenia, and at the moment it is a priority to acquire materials, weapons and training to implement all that. During a joint press conference with Armenia’s Defense Minister Suren Papikyan, the head of the French Armed Forces, Sébastien Lecornu, said this, responding to the question of a Public Television journalist, whether it is possible to expect a discussion of prospects in the field of ammunition production with Armenia, considering that the representatives of ammunition producing companies are in Armenia.
“The reality is that France historically has a sovereign base with its army modeled by [Charles] de Gaulle, and everything we consume, everything we buy, is produced in France. This is a very special model in Europe because we have this industrial autonomy and strategy, and we can decide on exports. This French characteristic also allows us to have a very autonomous diplomacy. This comes from our history.
In the directions that decisions were made by the President, one of the decisions is also to support Armenia, the Defense Ministry of Armenia, and at the moment the priority is to get the materials, weapons and training to implement all that. The priority is this. That is why a number of letters and documents were signed.
We cannot, of course, talk about border protection without certain control materials, that is, every time we will proceed from the operational needs expressed by our Armenian partners, and we must make the appropriate proposals according to those needs, be it weapons or training for defense purposes,” he said, emphasizing that France's position is sometimes distorted on social networks.
“On the other hand, we should also be able to tell our manufacturers, taking into account the needs of our partners, what we can offer, at what price, at what pace. Our parliamentarians, who are here, also ensure democratic control,” he said.
