Great Britain has completely lifted the arms embargo against Azerbaijan and Armenia. This was stated by the UK's Minister of State for Europe, North America, and Overseas Territories, Stephen Dawdy. Stephen Dawdy visited Azerbaijan in August and met with President Ilham Aliyev.
In a statement to Medianews.az regarding the issue, political analyst Elkhan Shahinoglu said that Great Britain, while being a strategic partner of Azerbaijan, also has good relations with Armenia: “Therefore, London decided to lift the arms embargo against both Azerbaijan and Armenia. Western countries had imposed a ban on arms sales to Azerbaijan and Armenia for many years. Western countries, including London, hoped that through negotiations a peace would be achieved between Azerbaijan and Armenia. However, Azerbaijan was dissatisfied with the activities of the Minsk Group, which was dealing with the resolution of the conflict. Azerbaijan's main condition for peace—territorial integrity—was not ensured. Armenia did not want to return the occupied territories. Because of this, Azerbaijan strengthened its army and, using the weapons and military equipment received from partner countries, won the Second Karabakh war in 2020 and restored its territorial integrity. After that, there was no point in maintaining the arms embargo against Azerbaijan. Armenia was buying arms and military equipment from France, Russia, and India, while Azerbaijan was acquiring them from Turkey and Israel.
After the war, Azerbaijan and Armenia continue to spend billions of dollars on purchasing military equipment. Because of this, European countries have allowed selling arms to Azerbaijan and Armenia to earn profits for military equipment manufacturers. Great Britain does not want to fall behind in this process.
There is another reason why Great Britain sells military equipment to Azerbaijan and Armenia. Great Britain does not want Azerbaijan and Armenia to obtain military equipment from Russia, as this could increase their dependence on Russia. On the other hand, Western countries', including Great Britain's, military equipment will enable Azerbaijan and Armenia to protect themselves from possible threats from Russia. If Ukraine had had various types of Western-made military equipment and missile systems before Russia's invasion war, the Kremlin would not have taken the risk of starting a war against its neighbor.”
Togrul Ali,
Medianews.az
