Azernews.Az

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev will seek an explanation from Moldovan Prime Minister Vladimir Filat over the country’s secret deal to supply arms to Armenia during a planned meeting in Warsaw, a Moldovan foreign ministry source told Moldnews website.

A meeting between President Aliyev and Prime Minister Filat may take place on the sidelines of the European Union’s Eastern Partnership summit, due on September 29-30, Moldnews quoted the ministry source as saying.

"The Azerbaijani side intends to demand an explanation over the issue at the highest level," said the source that spoke on condition of anonymity.

After news broke about Moldova’s alleged secret deal with Armenia, Defense Minister Vitaly Marinutse reportedly admitted during closed-door hearings in parliament last week that Moldova had sold weaponry and military machinery to the South Caucasus republic.

The row emerged after reports circulated that a plane carrying artillery and anti-tank weapons flew from Moldova's capital Chisinau to Yerevan.

The Moldovan government has said it was unaware of the arms sales, but military officials said they acted on the government’s orders.

Analysts say the alleged arms sale could spark ire in Azerbaijan, which faces a two-decade-long conflict with neighboring Armenia over its occupied Nagorno Karabakh region.

Moldova apparently fears that the row over the alleged arms sales could hamper the country’s cooperation with Azerbaijan, as well as cooperation within GUAM, a group of four former Soviet republics including Azerbaijan and Moldova. Some analysts therefore link Moldovan acting President Marian Lupu’s recent sacking of the country’s armed forces chief to the row, though according to the presidential degree, Gen. Iurie Dominic was dismissed to improve discipline in the military and prevent violation of military laws in the future.

Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Araz Azimov said last Saturday that according to incoming data, Armenia has imported a considerable amount of offensive weapons from neighboring countries, including rockets, anti-tank weapons and 78,000 AK rifles. He said the countries selling the weaponry are "making a big mistake".