One thing I can assure you is that all reforms related to the sector will continue their course. Deputy Minister of Defense Arman Sargsyan told this to reporters in the National Assembly (NA) Friday, as he addressed the question of why the 2026 budget of the Ministry of Defense (MoD) of Armenia has been reduced.

"The [Armenian] prime minister [Nikol Pashinyan], in response to an MP's question in the NA on the 'reduction’—as you put it—of the defense budget, presented [it] in detail. The most important thing is that no reform that has been launched will stop its start, and it will reach its logical conclusion in the process," said Sargsyan.

To the question whether the reduction of funds to the MoD will affect the amount of military procurement of Armenia, the deputy minister of defense responded: “First of all, I am not too familiar with these financial and budgetary domain issues ex officio, and I do not want to present unprofessional justifications that may later become a reason for discussion. I can only insist that any positive reform that has been launched will not stop its progress.”

Arman Sargsyan did not really answer the question of why Armenia’s defense budget is being reduced and which programs will suffer from it.