U.S. military assistance to Armenia and Azerbaijan cannot be used for “offensive purposes,” said the U.S. State Department on Tuesday, responding to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s unsubstantiated allegations about U.S. arms supplies to Yerevan.
Last week, Aliyev claimed that Armenia is receiving “lethal weapons” from not only France and India but also the United States. However, he provided no evidence or specify the types of U.S. military equipment he alleged were being sent to Armenia. “The U.S. does not acknowledge it. However, we have tracked military transport planes landing at Armenian airports, delivering weapons there,” he told the state-run Russia Today broadcaster.
Responding to these baseless claims, a U.S. State Department spokesperson said: “U.S. security assistance to both Armenia and Azerbaijan is focused on strengthening interoperability with U.S. and NATO forces, increasing military professionalization, and securing their borders with Iran. The United States calibrates all its security assistance to Armenia and Azerbaijan to ensure that it is not usable for offensive purposes and does not undermine or hamper ongoing efforts to negotiate a durable and dignified peace,” reports Azatutyun.
Despite its growing military cooperation with Armenia, the U.S. has not reported any arms supplies to Armenia to date, nor has it signaled plans for such deliveries. Earlier this month, Armenian Defense Minister Suren Papikyan met with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin during a visit to Washington, D.C., where they discussed their “growing strategic partnership through training and exercises, military education, and capacity-building.”
In his interview with Russia Today, Aliyev also reiterated multiple conditions for signing a peace deal with Armenia, including an end to Yerevan’s arms acquisitions. “We have repeatedly told Armenia and its sponsors in the U.S. State Department that the armament must stop,” Aliyev said.
While Aliyev continues to make baseless claims, his regime is planning to allocate approximately $5 billion for defense and national security next year, a figure he emphasized as a show of military dominance. In contrast, Armenia’s defense budget for 2025 is projected at $1.7 billion, reflecting a commitment to defensive, rather than offensive, capabilities.
Armenian officials have cautioned that Aliyev’s regime may be preparing for another act of military aggression against Armenia following the COP29 climate summit in November. Observers in Yerevan have noted increased contacts between Azerbaijani and Turkish military officials in recent weeks, interpreting these developments as signs of potential preparations for such military action.
