Azernews.Az

Defense Minister Vitaly Marinutse has said Moldova is revoking its agreement on arms supplies to Armenia, the country’s defense ministry said Friday, after the controversial arms deal drew a terse response from Azerbaijan, Armenia’s long-time foe.

"The sale of military goods to Armenia from Moldova has been halted, and work is underway to revoke the agreement," says the statement, posted on the ministry’s website.

Moldova’s Moldnews news agency a day earlier quoted Marinutse as saying that despite the recent row, the Moldovan government intends to supply the remaining part of weaponry to Yerevan. He reportedly expressed hope that Moldova will continue the implementation of the agreement "within the shortest time possible". "The document does not contain any dubious provisions, so we have to bring it to an end," Marinutse was quoted as saying. He added that there is no legal document prohibiting the deal, according to Moldnews.

Moldovan ambassador in Baku Igor Bodiu on Friday dismissed the media reports about Moldova’s plans to further sell weaponry to Armenia.

"Moldova is not getting ready to sell weapons to Armenia, and some reports circulated by the media are undoubtedly false. Apparently, this [spreading such information] suits some," Bodiu said.

Azerbaijan, which faces a two-decade-long conflict with Armenia over its occupied Nagorno Karabakh region, hopes that Moldova will halt the arms sales. Azerbaijani First Vice-Speaker Ziyafat Asgarov said the Moldovan government "takes the issue seriously".

"The Moldovan armed forces chief has been dismissed over the row caused by the arms sales, which shows that the Moldovan government takes the issue of illegal arms sales seriously," Asgarov said.

He said Moldovan officials have provided an explanation concerning the weaponry sales because Azerbaijan is Moldova’s ally.

"We are interacting within the GUAM organization. Certainly, when a country that is close to Azerbaijan takes such actions unbeknownst to us, we cannot be content with this, and they have provided their explanation to that end."

The arms deal was revealed when Minister Marinutse admitted during recent closed-door hearings in parliament that Moldova had sold weaponry to Armenia. Reports said a cargo plane carrying weapons flew from Moldova's capital Chisinau to Yerevan. The Moldovan government earlier said it was unaware of the arms sales, but military officials said they acted on the government’s orders. The ensuing row caused differences between the Moldovan cabinet of ministers and defense ministry, and investigation into the matter was launched.

Shortly after the row emerged, Moldovan acting President Marian Lupu sacked the country’s armed forces chief, Gen. Iurie Dominic, in a move some analysts linked to the arms deal.

Analysts say the Moldovan ruling elite bewares that the row could adversely affect the country’s relations with Azerbaijan and hamper bilateral cooperation within GUAM, a group of four former Soviet republics which also includes Georgia and Ukraine.

Azerbaijani media reported earlier that Chisinau had extended an apology to Baku over the arms sales. Moldovan Prime Minister Vladimir Filat expressed regret over the weapons deal to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev during the recent Eastern Partnership summit in Warsaw, Ambassador Bodiu was quoted as saying. Bodiu also reportedly said that though no international sanctions are in place on the arms sales to Armenia, it was "an erroneous political move".

The types of weaponry sold to Armenia have not been formally disclosed, but reports said the cargo plane that flew to Yerevan carried artillery and anti-tank weapons. However, the Moldovan defense ministry has said the sold military goods do not include any combat weapons.

Moldovan media have reported that the sold weaponry, worth over $5 million, is the best in Moldova, though its life span has expired.

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