Armenia`s minister of defense hosts member of French Senate  Committees

ArmInfo. On April 30, the Minister of Defence of the Republic of Armenia, Suren Papikyan,  received a member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Armed Forces, and Committee on European Affairs of the French Senate, Ronan Le Gleut. The Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of  the French Republic to the Republic of Armenia, Olivier Decottigness, was also in attendance at the meeting.

Discussions during the meeting encompassed Armenia-France bilateral  cooperation in the defence field, as well as cooperation with the  European Union.

Additionally, various topics related to regional security and the  substantial reforms within the Armenian Armed Forces were addressed.

On September 27, 2023, the then head of the French Foreign Ministry  Catherine Colonna announced the appointment of a French military  attach‚ in Yerevan with the aim of further strengthening bilateral  defense cooperation.

And already in early October, France responded positively to  Armenia's request for military assistance against the backdrop of the  threat posed by Azerbaijan. On October 22-23, at a meeting of the  head of the French military department, Sebastien Lecornu, with the  Minister of Defense of Armenia Suren Papikyan in Paris, it was  announced that an agreement on the supply of arms to Yerevan had been  reached. At that time, agreements were signed on the supply of three  Thales Ground Master 200 (GM200) radars to Yerevan and a memorandum  of understanding on the supply of Mistral short-range air defense  systems.  The second contract concerned Yerevan's purchase of night  vision binoculars, equipment manufactured by Safran. France has  already supplied Armenia with 24 units of Bastion-type light armored  vehicles. In total, Armenia will receive 50 such vehicles.