What is the price of France’s post-war debt to Armenia?

These days in Yerevan, French President Emmanuel Macron admitted that his country and he are the key actors of the 2022 Prague process, which de facto recognized Artsakh as part of Azerbaijan.

In particular, during the state dinner at the presidential residence on the evening of May 4, the head of France said the following.

“Since the fall of 2022, I have not forgotten anything from that night. Only two years had passed since the beginning of the war. The situation was very volatile and you showed great courage because you were making a decision for your country. But I want to say something simple։

First of all, in such moments, I believe, France has fulfilled its duty. It is true that it was strange for many people in Europe or elsewhere why we unconditionally support Armenia. By the way, to calm you down, I should mention that after the meeting that the Prime Minister referred to, I almost stayed out of all subsequent meetings until the conflict with President Aliyev was settled.”

Of course, this is not the first time that Macron expresses this idea. On one occasion, in an interview given to one of the French media, he mentioned that Artsakh is a territory that has not been recognized by the international community.

“Nagorno-Karabakh is an area in the heart of Azerbaijan, and he started a terrible war with many casualties, terrible scenes, and occupied that area in September. And launched several attacks all along the border, presumably to build a corridor from one end of his territory to the other. And what can we do? We clearly condemned it, I did it immediately, I called President Aliyev and invited the leaders of the two countries to Paris. France is one of the mediating powers. After that I invited the leaders of both countries to Prague. Within a few hours, we met with the President of the European Council and the leaders of the two countries. and we decided that both sides are committed to recognizing the 1991 borders.” he elaborated.

Nikol Pashinyan has not once expressed his gratitude for this mission of Macron these days.

“The architecture of peace is based on the Alma Ata Declaration, the recognition of the territorial integrity, sovereignty and inviolability of the borders of Armenia and Azerbaijan. The role of French President Emmanuel Macron is key in this architecture,” Nikol Pashinyan emphasized during a joint statement with Macron on May 5.

It is another matter that the Armenian figures who are in good relations with the French president may not agree with the claims regarding Macron’s key or important role in the mentioned process. Of course, the third country always defends what your country decides, in this case, Armenia decided to fulfill the demands of Azerbaijan and received the support of France, but the problem is that the head of the former IC co-chairing country considers the Prague decision of the RA authorities as exemplary.

Why are we writing this? During the days of the war and after it, various circles unequivocally claimed that France offered military aid to Armenia, but Armenia or Nikol Pashinyan refused. In particular, during the NDB rally years ago, Vladimir Poghosyan, the adviser of the former head of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia, Onik Gasparyan, presented himself, in particular, had announced.

“We know that the 44-day war of 2020 was planned together with Turkey. Since 2012, Russia has broken the military balance. I can’t believe that Aliyev has become such a stubborn boy that he can block the road on his own and say: I am doing a blockade. This is a joint work with the Russian Federation. They especially weaken our army, all the roads were closed during the war. None of the money we contributed, which was supposed to bring weapons and ammunition from Russia, entered Armenia. It was also a thought process. During the war, I negotiated with the representatives of France, with the ambassador, France offered us military assistance, our government refused.”

First of all, does Vladimir Poghosyan, who worked at the General Directorate of Security during the war, or perhaps gave advice to Onik Gasparyan, the head of the General Directorate at that time, does he have justifications that Russia was one of the planners of the war, did Onik Gasparyan have such information and did he speak about this in the Investigative Commission? 

Besides that, by what right did he negotiate with the French side, if such a thing happened, can he bring clear evidence of what military aid France offered to Armenia during the war, which was rejected, when, by and large, there was no official confirmation from either Armenia or France.

And these days, the statements of the leaders of Armenia and France mentioned above prove exactly this: nothing like that happened.

But there are official facts, which is earlier 168.amthe stated: noting that before the 44-day war, warnings were made in the Ministry of Defense about Turkish threats to the French side and the possibility of Turkey’s direct participation in the war. In particular, after the July battles and before the 44-day war, in the Ministry of Defense of the RA, on the French side has been warned about the possible consequences and goals of Turkish-Azerbaijani joint military exercises.

In other words, at that time Defense Minister Davit Tonoyan noted that “from the military point of view, their tactical nature is not a concern, but it is important so that the military exercises do not turn into provocative actions in the immediate vicinity of the borders of the Republic of Armenia, defense structures and other infrastructures.”

of the 44-day war days more several times to the French ambassador at the time, Jonathan Lacotte had met Former RA Defense Minister Davit Tonoyan, during which he presented the facts of the involvement of foreign servicemen and mercenaries, the consequences of the targeting of peaceful settlements by the enemy, it was noted that the maintenance of the ceasefire can be ensured only in the case of the use of international verification measures.

2020 Pashinyan, in turn, several times during the war had a phone conversation With Macron, including war on the first day. 

And in June 2023, Pashinyan in the Investigative Commission had mentioned.

“On October 17, French President Emmanuel Macron took the initiative, who informed me that the President of Azerbaijan agrees to establish a cease-fire without preconditions from the midnight of October 18. Naturally, I agreed to this, and within a few hours, the following statement was agreed between France, Armenia and Azerbaijan, which was published late in the evening of October 17. “The Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan decided to establish a humanitarian ceasefire on October 18, at 00:00 local time.

This decision was made in continuation of the statement made by the presidents of the French Republic, the Russian Federation and the United States of America representing the OSCE Minsk Group co-chair countries on October 1, the statement made by the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs on October 5 and in accordance with the joint statement adopted in Moscow on October 10.

Regarding this announcement, even before publication, we had consultations with our Russian partners, who welcomed the initiative: Contrary to the announcement, however, no ceasefire was established on October 18 either, although all day long we have been making diplomatic efforts to stop the war. In other words, after this announcement, there was no pause at all.”

It is believed that France either did not try or failed to first prevent the war and then its terrible course and outcome. Of course, we do not blame France for the defeat in the war, and we remember very well that Russia is Armenia’s strategic ally, that Armenia was also the guarantor of Artsakh’s security. We also remember very well that Nikol Pashinyan was satisfied with the support shown by Russia during the war, that he had about 9 telephone conversations with Russian President Putin, that during the war Pashinyan wanted the Russian peacekeepers to be stationed in Artsakh, and after the war, Putin said about Pashinyan: “он не предатель”. We remember everything very well, and besides all this, also the fact that France was ready to sign an arms supply agreement with Armenia in October 2023, after the depopulation of Artsakh.

In this context, let us remind that in 2024 In the spring, the former Minister of Defense of the Republic of Armenia Davit Tonoyan to “Pastinfo” had said.

“The lack of military-technical cooperation between the Republic of Armenia and France was not caused by the lack of interest of the Republic of Armenia, and the above-mentioned change after the actual depopulation of Artsakh, that is, the establishment of cooperation, is explainable. I hope that in the current geopolitical conditions, the military-technical cooperation with France will be long-term and continuous, and in terms of security risks, it is calculated and predicted.”

Continuity is essentially ensured. And in addition to the weapons supplied to Armenia by France, on May 5, a contract for the supply of equipment was signed between the RA Ministry of Defense and the French Sofema Group in Yerevan. In addition, the RA Defense Department has signed a contract for the supply of transport helicopters with the Airbus helicopters company.

No one denies that France Military aid to Armenia is conditional with the historical basis of Armenian-French relations and the fact of age-old friendship, which France never ignores. But, of course, as they say, nothing happens just like that in politics, there are also other motives, which is also in the logic of the “political campaign” against the Russian Federation or pushing it out of the region. This, if we also take into account some of the statements made by French President Emmanuel Macron during the “Yerevan Dialogue-2026” international conference.

First, he announced. “The South Caucasus should not be a place of competition between empires, which consider the region as a trophy, a prize, pitting local nations against each other. The South Caucasus can regain its central position between Europe, Asia and the Middle East. And in the South Caucasus there are opportunities to be a crossroads in this region, to be that middle corridor.”

Then, the French president considered it necessary to emphasize that for a long time many people thought that the fate of Armenia was possible only under the patronage of Russia, noting:

“The war of 2020, what you experienced, the tragedy that many families went through, saw that it was not the patronage that many imagined. We saw that Russia left Armenia, we understood that those dreams are not reality. Everyone seems to have learned that he must be a patron in the region, because the South Caucasus always seems to have to be protected by someone.”

And before this, Nikol Pashinyan did not oppose these claims of Macron, not far in the past during the NA-Government question-and-answer session after his visit to Moscow and Putin’s meeting. had announced. 

“We had very long and detailed discussions and we have acquired such strategic agreements to deepen cooperation in various fields, the expression of which we will see in the near future.”

Later, at a briefing with journalists, when Nikol Pashinyan was asked whether there are military-technical agreements with Russia, whether your statement means that Armenia has an agreement to buy weapons from Russia, he answered:

“We have military-technical cooperation with Russia, we had it, which at some point was either interrupted or decreased, and yes, we have an agreement to implement the previously reached agreements.”

Later, in response to our written request, the RA Ministry of Defense did not deny the plans to purchase weapons from Russia.

It turns out, do not the de jure established strategic relations with France prevent Armenia from having strategic agreements with Russia as well, or will the wish of Macron and Europe be fulfilled at some point, and instead of Russia, Europe will help Armenia to ensure border security?

Note that press publications According to Macron, he stated that: «There are still 4,000 Russian soldiers and more than 1,000 border guards on the territory of Armenia, so Europe should help this country to ensure the security of its own borders more independently.”

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