In the light of the Ukrainian conflict that has been going on for four years and the US and Israeli military action against Iran since the end of February, the statistics of the global arms trade are becoming especially relevant.

O՞v and o՞Who is selling the weapon and where?՞Do they use it and how?՞How have sales figures changed over the past ten years? Stockholm Institute for Peace Studies (SIPRI) on March 9 presented data that partially provide answers to these and other questions. No՞ that military conflict is, in fact, impossible without the use of weapons and their production or purchases abroad.

It is obvious՝ the largest producer and seller of weapons has long been the USA։ «Leader of the free worldn” with its sales in the last five years (2021-2025) occupied 42% of the arms export market. This is more than the seven arms exporting countries, which together have only 40.8% of the market: France 9.8%, Russia 6.8%, Germany 5.7%, China 5.6%, Italy 5.1%, Israel 4.4% and Britain 3.4%.

During the mentioned period, 99 countries of all regions bought American weapons, for 76 of which the USA was among the top three importers of weapons. Naturally, the most weapons were bought in Europe (35 countries received 38% of all American supplies). Latin American countries (18 countries) took the second place in the number of countries, Asia and Oceania (17 countries) and Africa (17 countries) shared the third place.

Notably, US arms exports increased by 27 percent over the previous five-year period (2016-2020), while global arms exports grew by only 9.2 percent.

In addition, arms sales in Europe increased more than three times (215%). Naturally, a significant part of them are arms supplies to Ukraine, which were provided by the Biden administration in order to prevent Russia from achieving its goals within the framework of the Ukrainian conflict resolution.

It should be noted: The Middle East, where only 12 countries were buyers of American weapons, received a third (33%) of all American supplies, compared to 45% in the previous period. Taking into account the significant increase in US arms sales in 2021-2025 and the fact that the first place among buyers is Saudi Arabia (12% of all sales), and the top ten importers are Qatar (7.4%) and Kuwait (4.2%), the total volume of purchases by Middle Eastern countries decreased by 6%.

It can be assumed that one of the reasons why the US unleashed the “epic fury” military operation against Iran was the desire to increase its arms sales to the region. And all the statements about democracy and human rights are just a fig leaf with which Washington tries to cover its economic and political interests.

After all, taking into account the cost of the American Patriot air defense systems, as well as their anti-missile systems, which were mostly used by the countries of the region to protect themselves from the Iranian “Martyrs” during several days of military operations, the countries of the Middle East will have to significantly expand their budgets in order to replenish their reserves. On the other hand, only according to official data, the first weeks of hostilities cost the US $2 billion a day, so the Americans will have to sell a lot of weapons.

As the above figures show, comparing the US and other arms exporters is quite difficult, so SIPRI tried to estimate together the EU countries, which represent 28% of the global market, or two-thirds of US sales.  That volume exceeded the sales of Russian arms four times and Chinese arms five times. In general, EU arms exports increased by 36 percent in 2021-2025 compared to the previous period.

France is the second largest exporter of weapons (9.8% of the world market), supplying its products to 63 countries around the world.. About 31% of sales go to Asia and Oceania, 28% to the Middle East, and 21% to European countries. The top three arms buyers are India (24%), Egypt (11%) and Greece (10%). In addition, French arms supplies to European countries increased 5.5 times, and the total export volume increased by 21 percent.

Fourth place Germany (5.7%) increased its sales by 15%directing them to other countries in Europe (41%), the Middle East (33%), as well as Asia and Oceania (17%).

Oddly enough, Italy increased its arms exports the most (2.5 times), representing 5.1 percent of world sales and ranking sixth in terms of sales. Most of them go to the Middle East, 59%, while other regions are less interested in Italian weapons: Asia and Oceania, 16%, Europe, 13%.

Having completed the observation of EU countries, we cannot ignore Russia, which ranks third in the list of global exporters (6.8% of the market).  The main buyer of Russian weapons is India (48% of sales), and the second place is shared by Belarus and China (13% each). Unlike all other countries in the top ten exporting countries, Russia is the only country that not only did not increase, but also decreased arms exports (by 64%). The reasons for this are quite obvious, considering that all NATO countries are fighting against it at the hands of Ukraine.

It remains to mention China, which occupies the 5th place in the list of exporters, with a share of 5.6 percent of the world market., which supplies its products mainly to Asian countries. The top three buyers of Chinese arms are Pakistan (61%), Serbia (6.8%) and Thailand (4.7%).

Who became the main arms importer in 2021-2025?

There was no doubt that over the past five years, Ukraine has become the largest arms buyer in the world with a 9.7% share of the entire arms market. Although he can be called a buyer only with quotation marks, because he received most of the supplied weapons either for free or on credit, which he is unlikely to ever be able to repay.

To understand the full volume of weapons received by Kiev, it is enough to say that a quarter of all American supplies to Europe (or 9.4% of all arms exports from the United States) were transferred directly to Ukraine. Despite the fact that in 2025 information on arms received from abroad was kept secret by Kiev, SIPRI noted that the largest suppliers to Ukraine are the USA (41%), Germany (14%) and Poland (9.4%).

These data allow us to claim that the complete cessation of the supply of American weapons to Kiev will allow a quick end to the Ukrainian conflict.  Maybe not in the way the globalists would like, because Russia would unconditionally achieve its goals by military means, which the West does not want to allow in any way.

India ranks second among arms importers (8.2% of global sales). Its main suppliers are Russia (40%), France (29%) and Israel (15%).

The third and fourth places are occupied by two Middle Eastern countries: Saudi Arabia (6.8% of the market) and Qatar (6.4%). Their main supplier is the USA (77% and 48% of imports, respectively). And the top five buyers of weapons in the world is Pakistan (4.2 percent of the market), which is supplied with weapons mainly by China (80 percent of supplies).

If we divide all the buyers of weapons in the world by regions, then one third of all deliveries in 2021-2025 were made to Europe (33%), which took the first place in importing weapons. Asia and Oceania are in second place (31%), and the Middle East is third (26%). In the previous five-year period, Asia and Oceania (42%) and the Middle East (32%) were the main buyers of weapons, while Europe remained in third place (12%).

Noticeable is՝ over the years there has been a definite redirection of global arms imports to Europe, where d:its main the importer It was Ukraine. It cannot be ruled out that Europe, which is preparing for a military conflict with Russia, the Middle East, which urgently needs to buy new air defense systems and missiles for them (and the conflict with Iran is not known how and when it will end), as well as the countries of Asia, will compete for the first places in the coming years. Taiwan is wary of a military conflict with the PRC, and the US’s regional partners (South Korea and Japan) have already committed to increasing purchases of American weapons.

Peaceful life on earth, it seems, does not have to wait.

Yegor: VOLKOV

fondsk.ru

Translation by Zhanna Avetisyan

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Ali Larijani, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, who was killed as a result of American-Israeli missile strikes, was bid farewell in Tehran.

Israel Defense Minister Israel Katz announced the other day about his murder, which took place during the attack on Tehran. Larijani was responsible for negotiations on key national security issues, including Iran’s nuclear program.

Ali Larijani was one of the most influential figures of the last decades of the Islamic Republic of Iran, thanks to whom the work of the state apparatus was preserved in the most critical stages for Iran. Perhaps this was also the reason why Israel targeted Larijani as well, thereby trying to turn the tide of the war. In an interview with Al Jazeera, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated that the assassination of the Secretary of the Security Council of Iran, Ali Larijani, will not deal a fatal blow to the leadership of the Islamic Republic.

He added that the United States and Israel have not yet realized that the Iranian government does not rely on one individual. “I don’t know why Americans and Israelis haven’t understood this point yet. The Islamic Republic of Iran has a strong political structure with established political, economic and social institutions. The presence or absence of one individual does not affect this structure. Of course, individuals are influential, and each person plays a role; Some are better, some are worse, some are less, but the important thing is that the political system of Iran is a very strong structure,” he said. The loss of Larijani is great for Iran, but the Iranian system does not depend on one person and his decisions. It is also this belief Iranian analyst, journalist Khayal Muazzin.

168.amIn a conversation with , Muazin said that the war between Iran, the USA and the Zionist regime is entering a new phase day by day. In his opinion, the course of the conflict is largely determined and controlled by Iran.

“The Zionist regime and the USA, acting in a state of panic, are trying to get out of the situation in a chaotic way, but day by day they are sinking deeper into the strategic impasse. Moreover, we have not yet passed the key stage of the conflict.

This war is gradually gaining a regional character and will determine the fate of the entire region, so the most significant events are yet to come. Iranian society, on the contrary, is coming together. people unite around the state, go to the squares, showing their support. Even the Iranian women brought their gold jewelry, transferring it to the needs of the army, to ensure the continuation of the resistance until the final breakthrough of the situation.

Thus, it can be said that the initial calculation of a quick resolution was not justified, and the protracted nature of the conflict favors the side that has greater internal stability and strategic depth,” the analyst said.

Khayal Muazin believes that the ceasefire has no meaning without achieving a breakthrough and forcing the enemy to recognize the reality. According to him, until the enemy understands that the language of threats and pressure against Iran does not work, and the factor of war is not completely removed from the agenda, the conflict will continue.

“Regardless of the USA’s desire to stop hostilities, a ceasefire is unlikely at this stage. “Political and diplomatic channels are practically exhausted, and now the situation is determined not by the statements of diplomats, but by actions on the battlefield. In this logic, the military factor becomes the key tool of influence and restraint,” he said.

Referring to the impact of the conflict on the countries of the South Caucasus, Muazin said that Iran’s opponent will inevitably resort to complex and multi-level scenarios.

“One such tool can be provocations and attempts to draw additional countries into the conflict through destabilization and creating artificial crises.

Iran has already repeatedly officially warned neighboring states about the risks of such scenarios and called on them not to become part of these plans. Ignoring such warnings, as the experience of a number of Arab countries has shown, leads to serious consequences.

In this regard, the countries of the region should show maximum caution and strategic restraint. The South Caucasus remains a sensitive area, and any involvement in the conflict could lead to prolonged instability. Balance and neutrality become the main security factors here,” said Muazzin. By the way, let’s remind that the Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had a telephone conversation with the Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov hours ago. According to the message spread by the Iranian side, the head of Iran’s foreign political department stated that Tehran has the right to attack any country that provides the USA and Israel with space for aggression against it.

In a conversation with his Azerbaijani counterpart, Araghchi emphasized that according to international law, no state has the right to provide its territory and facilities to other countries for aggressive actions.

Khayal Muazin also referred to the humanitarian needs of the Islamic Republic of Iran, which the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, spoke about during her briefing the other day, stating that Iran has appealed to partner countries for humanitarian aid.

“We express our gratitude to the neighboring countries, Russia and Azerbaijan, as well as Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, which have joined in providing assistance. It shows a responsible attitude towards regional stability and humanitarian situation.

At the same time, it is unfortunate that against the background of the happening events, Armenia has not yet formed a clear and balanced position at the state level. An impression is created that the risks occurring in the immediate vicinity are underestimated.

Such an approach cannot be considered strategically justified. Regional processes inevitably involve all participants, and timely decision-making plays a key role. There is hope that the appropriate position will be formed before the situation becomes more complicated and requires urgent steps,” said the analyst, assessing the passive position of the Armenian authorities regarding the issue of sending humanitarian aid to Iran.

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yesterday 168.am“Is the 44-day report now more than 200 pages or more than 400? What is Andranik Kocharyan messing up and what important things does he not remember? article: published, where we noted that Andranik Kocharyan, the chairman of the RA NA Standing Committee on Defense and Security Affairs, has always stated that the 44-day report is about 200 or 215 pages long, moreover, even when it was already forwarded to NA Speaker Alen Simonyan.

But on March 17, on the air of “Armenia” TV Company, the chairman of the RA NA Standing Committee on Defense and Security Issues declared.

“The report of the investigative commission became more than 400 pages, with its video recordings, text part, minutes.”

Agree that the difference is big.

It should be noted that when Andranik Kocharyan mentioned about 200 pages, they were mentioned again the recordings, videos, 16,000 documentary materials.

After the publication of the article, we managed to find out some things that, for example, Andranik Kocharyan attached to the report of the investigative commission as an appendix the written analysis of Onik Gasparyan, the former head of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia, on 70-80 pages.

In addition to this, Andranik Kocharyan’s several-page letter-analysis related to the Su-30s, which he presented to Pashinyan, and which was also mentioned during Pashinyan’s questioning by the investigative commission, was also attached to the 44-day report.

“The much-discussed fact about the Su-30s. As a political authority, I have set a simple task before the army. say what you need and you will have it. They said: Su-30 is needed. Can you imagine an airplane from time to time? If I remember correctly, Mr. Kocharyan, you wrote me a letter on that topic and presented an analysis. I took that letter and wrote to the Ministry of Defense how appropriate it is to acquire these planes. I signed that letter to the Ministry of Defense, I said: there is such a point of view, discuss and tell. I received an answer that we discussed it, and our conclusion is that we need it,” on June 27, 2023, in the Investigative Committee. had announced Pashinyan.

By the way, Andranik Kocharyan in an interview given to Factor in February 2024 had said. “Our equipment did not fly from the beginning, then it flew partially, then it was detected and shot down. Now, in order to solve the combat problem, the General Assembly has given its consent to go to the full stage, and many have gone to the full stage.”

He then continued. “We had wrong acquisitions of weapons, by the way, I sent the information gathered by the Investigative Commission to the Prosecutor General of RA.”

Then we write We sent inquiries Andranik Kocharyan, including in connection with the Su-30s, to which he replied:

“Answers to questions about weapons and others will be included in the above report.”

And “The subjective aspect of the Investigative Commission’s report. “Following the facts” in our article we reported that an expert working in the Investigative Commission had a significant role in the preparation of the 44-day report General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia Former head of the radio electronic warfare department, colonel Vahan Avetisyan, which went through the well-known arms case of 42 million to “metal scraps”, but years later the criminal prosecution against him was stopped.

However, in April 2020, when he was still in “Yerevan-Kentron” prison, open letter corrected Nikol Pashinyan, saying that “he is being harassed by the head of the State Security Service Artak Davtyan and his deputy Stepan Galstyan”.

The letter also referred to the Su-30s.

“After the velvet revolution of 2018, I had the courage to express a professionally substantiated opinion and question the feasibility of acquiring Su-30 aircraft for the RA Armed Forces.

Immediately after that, I was persecuted by the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces Artak Davtyan and his deputy Stepan Galstyan…” the letter stated.

By the way, SUs were used in the 44-day war and solved a certain combat problem.

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The letter of Ruben Vardanyan’s wife, Veronika Zonabend, to ICRC President Miryana Spolyarich Eger, about the legal status of Armenian prisoners in Azerbaijan.

Relatives of Armenian prisoners held in Baku have been deprived of the opportunity to see them for more than two years. Families are deeply concerned about their health. Representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross last had independent access to the Armenian prisoners. The ICRC was the only organization visiting their places of detention, but on September 3, 2025, it ceased operations in Azerbaijan at the request of the country’s government.

Under these conditions, the question of the legal status of prisoners, in the sense in which it is considered by international humanitarian law, takes on a special significance. Veronika Zonabend turned to the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Mirjana Spoliarich Eger, with a request for clarification regarding this issue.

We publish the letter and reiterate the request to provide clarification on the legal status of the Armenian prisoners for the period when the ICRC representatives visited them, and to consider the possibility of answering this question.

“Dear President,

I am writing to you on behalf of my husband, Armenian citizen, philanthropist and former Minister of State of Nagorno-Karabakh, Ruben Vardanyan, who was illegally detained by the Azerbaijani authorities on September 27, 2023, while crossing from Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia.

I would like to express my sincere appreciation for the activities of the International Committee of the Red Cross. The ICRC’s role and mandate are truly unique and unprecedented. In times of brutality, war and injustice, the ICRC remains a rare symbol of dignity, compassion and humanity, carrying out a noble mission to protect vulnerable people. ICRC is one of the few international organizations whose members have not lost their sense of mission and continue to approach their work with compassion and care. We sincerely appreciate the visits of representatives of the Red Cross to Ruben in the Azerbaijani detention center. For us and, I’m sure, for the families of other detained Armenians, your visits are much more important than just being an official procedure.

I am writing to you in full awareness of ICRC’s humanitarian mandate, confidentiality, impartiality and neutrality, long established principles. At the same time, it is extremely important for the families of the illegally detained to know what legal status their relatives had at the time of the ICRC representatives’ visits to Azerbaijan.

The need for clarification becomes even more urgent in light of the clearly flawed judicial proceedings in Azerbaijan, taking into account trials lacking fundamental safeguards and accusations lacking factual and legal basis. The suffering caused to their families due to illegal detention and unjustified trials is deepened when the Azerbaijani authorities publicly and regularly call these people “terrorists”, distorting the status of the detainees and spreading misleading information.

Considering the above, with all due respect, I would like to clarify the specific legal status on the basis of which ICRC delegates visited Ruben and other Armenian prisoners.

In particular, we are trying to understand whether the ICRC considered them as persons deprived of their liberty, whose deprivation of liberty was related to the armed conflict, according to which, they were considered as prisoners of war, detained for security reasons, interned or had any other status within the framework of international humanitarian law.

The clarification of this issue is extremely important. It will give families much-needed reassurance and insight into how detainees are treated under international humanitarian law and ICRC humanitarian visitation standards.

Let me conclude by expressing my sincere gratitude for the compassion and dignity that the Red Cross provides through its work. These are irreplaceable qualities, the lack of which is felt all over the world.

In the end, I want to address you not only in the form of an official letter, but also with a deeply personal appeal, as an organization whose mission has always been to put human life, dignity and justice above formalities and political considerations. For families like ours, who are experiencing the pain of long-term and illegal detention of a relative, faith in ICRC’s humanity is a source of hope. I sincerely believe that this spirit will guide you to pay attention to what is happening to Ruben Vardanyan and other detained Armenians.

Sincerely,

Veronika Zonabend”.

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Hayk Mamijanyan, head of the “I have honor” faction of the National Assembly, recently published a short video message from Brussels, where the regular session of the cooperation format of the Parliament of Armenia and the European Parliament has already ended, during which a statement was adopted.

“I have some information for you regarding this statement, because the propaganda machine will definitely not talk about it.

I submitted about 6 proposals to that statement, most of which were not accepted, but the Armenian side’s vote on 2 is essential. One of the suggestions was to call on the authorities of Azerbaijan to refrain from making statements on the internal issues of the Republic of Armenia, it was related to the amendment of the Constitution and so on. CP deputies abstained from this, for them there is only one question: will Azerbaijan express an opinion on the amendment of the Constitution of Armenia or not,” Hayk Mamijanyan mentioned in his video message.

Continuing, the opposition deputy added that already for the third time, CP deputies voted against the initiative to include the proposal on the Armenian Genocide in the statement, in the context of improving Armenian-Turkish relations, so to speak, preserving the issue of the Armenian Genocide.

“It turns out that the CP is against it, although it is not clear, we knew it for a long time, but it was already confirmed by voting for the third time.

There is one more important point that I would like you to know. I am sure, the statement will be published in the near future with a translated text, it includes one point where the European Union states that it has taken into account that there are opinions in Armenia that the judicial system is being used in Armenia, there are certain democratic problems, it calls for the fundamental rights of democracy to be preserved, etc.

But this, compared to the previous refusal, that they tried to present as if there is no problem in Armenia from the point of view of democracy, now at least they say that they notice that there are political and civil circles in Armenia about the democratic regression and the use of the law enforcement system for political purposes.

Perhaps when there are no more oppositionists left free in Armenia, when all the oppositionists are in fortresses, the number of political prisoners in Armenia is not 50, but 500, then we can reach the point where the European structures clearly state that there are similar problems in Armenia.

However, compared to the previous one, all the actions that are being carried out in Armenia against the background of speaking out about the anti-democratic processes, political prisoners, give some small, insignificant results,” added Hayk Mamijanyan.

Details in the video of 168.am

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Today, Nikol Pashinyan remembered the former. in general, according to tradition, in pre-election speeches, the thread of the past is always passed in Pashinyan’s speeches.

Today, during another briefing, when journalists accused the government of not fulfilling the 2021 plan and ultimately handing over Artsakh, Pashinyan responded that the preface of their plan stated the priority: peace in the region.

Journalists also recalled Pashinyan’s statement by which he recognized Nagorno Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan.

Pashinyan responded by first noting that “no government has done as much for Karabakh as our government”, then added: Nagorno-Karabakh has always been part of Azerbaijan, and Armenia has always recognized it as part of Azerbaijan, it was simply hidden to prevent Armenia from being an independent state.

“And that process was led by Levon Ter-Petrosyan, Robert Kocharyan, Serzh Sargsyan, and now they have brought the related Russian-Belarusian oligarchs, realizing that their card has been redeemed,” he noted.

Former RA Prime Minister Hrant Bagratyan 168․amupdated Pashinyan’s memory in a conversation with “It is known that Nagorno-Karabakh was a semi-independent state, and the Minsk Group was created, which recognized that the problem of Karabakh’s self-determination is legal, fair, and a solution must be found. That was the reaction of the world.

Karabakh was not completely independent, but in Karabakh we legally used the Armenian dram, production entities of Karabakh carried out export and import operations, moreover, citizens of Karabakh, residents, received Armenian passports and were issued visas, they could travel freely, etc. In other words, Artsakh was able to achieve many things. The status of Artsakh was absolutely legal until the Minsk Group made a decision.

Artsakh was handed over to Azerbaijan by Nikol Pashinyan. it happened before our eyes. All other statements, regarding the presidents, some oligarchs, they are another pre-election tricks, with which they try to mislead the voters.”

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In order to create the “Metsamor” film city, the Armenian Cinema Fund received another grant from the state, this time with the largest volume.

Thus, on March 9, the contract on the use of the financial support provided by the state in the form of a grant signed between the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports and the Armenian Cinema Fund was made public on the Electronic Shopping Platform, from which we learn that the Ministry provided 300 million drams to the fund.

With this amount, the fund undertook an obligation to “Cinema Town” LLC to create cinema booths in the area of ​​8940.97 square meters of Metsamor city, provided with the right of free use for a period of 10 years.

According to the contract, the 45 outdoor pavilions will become the property of RA.

By the way, “Cinema Town” LLC was founded in 2024. one of the shareholders of this company is Hayk Ordyan with a 62 percent share.

It should be noted that in 3 months from the beginning of 2026, according to the publicized contracts, the Armenian Cinema Fund received 12 grants from the Ministry of Education and Culture, with a total volume of 656 million 600,800 AMD. 168.am earlier to some of the grants referred to reminding that the director of the Cinema Fund is Davit Banuchyan, the husband of Sona Ghazaryan, a deputy of the ruling “Civil Agreement” faction of the National Assembly.

In 2024, it became clear that the Film Center of Armenia will be replaced by the Film Foundation of Armenia, and already in July, Banuchyan assumed the position of director of the newly created foundation.

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