‘Russian weapons were sold to Azerbaijan within agreements, which were inked before April 2016. We all understand that the situation is highly explosion-prone and the 2018 April events is another proof of that. Russia is honoring contracts, signed before April 2016 and we have to do it in accordance with contractual provisions. But it is the situation that existed before that moment and based on the information I have, it will not be within the same scales. We certainly react to what happened in April 2016. There can be no doubts in that,’ said Kosachev.

So what was this statement supposed to mean? Was it an offer of homage to the hosting country or a dramatic shift in the export of Russian weapons to accommodate Armenia? Defence.az asked Oleg Kuznetsov, Russian political analyst, to answer these questions for us.

Kuznetsov says it is no secret for anyone in Russia that the Council of the Federation traditionally supports pro-Armenian positions as a legislative agency, and its head is one of the main lobbyists of Armenian interests in the highest corridors of the Russian power structure.

- I am not going to show any concrete examples in order not to reveals sources of information, who may find themselves jobless afterwards. But there are obvious instances, so I can state this fact with full responsibility. This is why there is nothing surprising that Senator Konstantin Kosachev said what he said, especially while in Yerevan. He simply could not say otherwise, because it would mean a conflict with the head of the Council of the Federation and possibly kill his political career, Kuznetsov said.

Nevertheless, he insists that any man of sense, who has an idea of the rules how the Russian weapons are sold at the international arms markets, has to understand that Kosachev clearly bluffed, making his statement in Yerevan. The state monopolist, “Rosoboronexport” is the intermediary agency for Russia’s exports of defense related products. The JSC is subjected to the Russian government is directly curated by the Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin.

- Arms exports are regulated through intergovernmental agreements in a juridical plane. These agreements is the foundation for Russian defense enterprises to sign contracts with potential consumers of their products. There is no other procedure for regulating the exports of Russian weapons. We clearly see that this scheme leaves no spot for the political position of the Council of Federation or any other senator. The government simply does not consider their opinions in matters of sheer materialistic interest, which naturally also includes international arms trade.

This is why Konstantin Kosachev, while in Yerevan, said exactly what they wanted to hear from him, as any normal and experienced politician would do. However, one should understand that everything that he said was his personal opinion, which in no way influences the position of the Russian government and the “Rosoboronexport”. Currently Russia does not only ramp up its arms sales in the global markets, but also carries out a targeted economic intervention, which has scaled up to state policy.

Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia have started purchasing Russian armaments, which was not in the picture some 5 years ago. Naturally, in these circumstances, my country will not start foregoing the markets for weapons exports it has already won over, which also include Azerbaijan. This is why there are no grounds to state that the policy Russia pursues will experience any changes in favor of Armenia’, Kuznetsov concluded.

Leyla Orujova

Sabina Hasanova

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