MINSK. Dec 14 (Interfax) - Belarus offered its air defense missile systems Polonez bought by Azerbaijan also to Armenia, but the latter declined the offer, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said at a press conference for Russian media outlets in Minsk on Friday.
"You shouldn't rebuke us for selling weapons to Azerbaijan. And look what we are criticized for - a missile system... Well, you should know: when we received the missile system Polonez and commissioned it for service, we invited [...] Armenians, Azerbaijanis, and Russians for tests," Lukashenko said.
Azerbaijan saw the system's high precision during the tests and decided to buy it, he said.
"After all, we have to repay the loans that the Chinese issued us for that," Lukashenko said. "I said [to Azerbaijan] then: 'Okay, I am selling you this system', and I also told the Armenians (I knew there might be problems): 'I can supply an identical system to you as well'. The Armenians turned it down, saying that they already had Russian Iskanders," he said.
In terms of arms trade, Belarus is the fourth or the fifth largest trade partner for Azerbaijan, "taking into account the Polonez," while Russia occupies the first position, Lukashenko said.