Azerbaijan acquires offensive weapons, Armenia also buys weapons, but in smaller quantities than Azerbaijan, Armenian foreign minister Ararat Mirzoyan said at his press conference Wednesday, as he recapped the results of 2024.

"Buying weapons is everyone's sovereign right. It is also the sovereign right of Armenia to protect its borders. But even if there are concerns, it is known that we recognize the territorial integrity of our neighbors, and we expect that our neighbors will recognize our territorial integrity. We have announced that we have no intention of carrying out a military operation against our neighbors. We expect our neighbors to behave the same way towards us.

At the same time, we are reforming our army, and one of the components of this reform is the purchase of weapons. We are concerned about the possible intention of Azerbaijan to carry out an attack [on Armenia]. We have seen many times that these weapons are used against Armenia in order to violate the territorial integrity of Armenia. Armenia has acquired and will continue to acquire weapons exclusively for defense purposes.

Azerbaijan has occupied more than 200 square kilometers of Armenian territory. And even in this case we are not going to consider a military option, but we intend to consider this issue as part of the border delimitation process.

We are not going to send back the purchased weapons. But if Azerbaijan's intentions are sincere, then we have proposed Azerbaijan to create an arms control mechanism. However, like other constructive proposals, this proposal also did not receive a positive response [from Azerbaijan]," added the Armenian FM.

He reflected also on Armenia’s relations with the US, and assured that they are strategic.

"A strategic dialogue has been established with the United States, and we have agreed to raise it to the level of a strategic partnership. Discussions are underway, meetings are planned to sign the relevant document," concluded Mirzoyan.