Armenia cannot match Azerbaijan in military spending, Simonyan says

Armenian parliament speaker Alen Simonyan said the country is unable to compete with Azerbaijan on the level of military spending.

He said a nearly 16% cut in the 2026 defense budget, down to 560 billion drams (about $1.46 billion), is not related to Baku or regional changes.

Simonyan stressed that the government’s main priority is the rational use of financial resources.