YEREVAN, MARCH 6, ARMENPRESS. Armenia wants Israel to stop arms sales to Azerbaijan, but is not making it a condition for improving ties with Jerusalem, Armenia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Grigor Hovhannisyan said in an interview to The Jerusalem Post, reports Armenpress.

The deputy FM stated that Armenia considers opening an embassy in Israel in order to take ties between the two countries to the “next level”.

He stated that Armenia would like to see Israel reciprocate by opening an embassy in Yerevan.

Regarding the reports that Israel is one of Azerbaijan’s main weapons suppliers, Grigor Hovhannisyan said Armenia would welcome a situation where Israel would do as the US and most European countries have done and not sell arms to either Armenia or Azerbaijan. He noted that there is no military solution to the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, there must be only a political one. The deputy minister emphasized that Armenia wants its friends to know that selling arms to Azerbaijan is “beyond a simple business transaction, and has consequences”.

The interview also touched upon the Armenian Genocide. Asked whether he was disappointed that Israel has not recognized the Armenian Genocide, the deputy FM distinguished between his own personal opinion and that of the foreign ministry.

As the offspring of refugees who survived the genocide, Hovhannisyan said he was personally disappointed, though that is not the position of the foreign ministry or the government. At the same time he noted that in the more than 25 years of Armenian independence from the Soviet Union the pace of recognition has been impressive. 

Grigor Hovhannisyan also talked about the mutual economic interests of the two countries, stating that Armenia is a member of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) which can open up a huge market for Israeli products.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan