Azerbaijan has condemned the alleged delivery of Bastion armored personnel carriers (APC) by France to Armenia.

The Azerbaijani media quotes Azerbaijani Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson Aykhan Hajizada as saying the equipment will reinforce Armenia’s military capabilities and the country’s “destructive actions”.

“Armenia and France should end armament and militarization policy in the region and finally understand that there is no alternative to peace and stability in the region,” Hajizada is quoted as saying.

On Sunday, Yerevan-based defense analyst Leonid Nersisyan posted that Armenia received the first batch of some twenty-one Bastion APCs via the Georgian port of Poti.

The Ouest France news site reports that the 12.5-ton troop carriers were initially intended for Ukraine, but Kyiv deemed them too poorly protected against artillery fire and anti-tank missiles.

Official Yerevan has not yet commented on these reports.

Photo: Armenian Defense Minister Suren Papikyan, French Minister of the Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu