Speaking to reporters in parliament, Armenia’s Deputy Defense Minister Armen Sargsyan stated that the apparent “reduction” in defense spending will not affect ongoing reforms.
“Regarding what you call a ‘cut’ in the defense budget, the Prime Minister has already explained in detail from the National Assembly podium. The most important point is that none of the reforms underway will be halted; they will all be carried through to their logical conclusion,” Sargsyan said, as reported by CivilNet.
According to Armenia’s 2026 draft state budget, 560 billion drams are allocated for defense, which is about 100 billion less than the 660.9 billion drams allocated in 2025.
On September 10, during a government Q&A in parliament, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan explained that the 2025 defense budget was significantly higher due to urgent needs. He added that a portion of spending was directed toward servicing future liabilities, including defense loans originally scheduled for repayment in 2030 or 2035. By paying them earlier, Armenia aimed to reduce its long-term debt burden.
Pashinyan stressed that in this framework, defense expenditures for 2026 show a natural increase compared to 2024.
