On 3 August, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić  said that his country is selling arms to both Azerbaijan and Armenia, since it needs to maintain its military industry in an efficient state.

“Both Azerbaijan and Armenia are our friends. In recent years, we have sold ten times more weapons to Azerbaijan [than to Armenia],” he noted first of all. 

“The military industry employs 17,000 people who must keep their places,” Aleksandr Vučić said explaining the sale of weapons to both sides of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Serbian RTV informed.

The Azerbaijani government-related website “Haqqin.az” reported on 19 July about an alleged secret arms delivery from Serbia to Armenia. These were allegedly mortars that were used against Azerbaijan during the recent escalation along the border. Azerbaijan's Deputy Foreign Minister Halaf Halafov informed the Serbian diplomat that Azerbaijan had “reliable and confirmed” information about Serbian arms deliveries to Armenia. Such an “unfriendly move” undermines the strategic relationship between Baku and Belgrade and is causing “bitter disappointment” in Azerbaijan (Caucasus Watch reported).

The Serbian Minister of Trade, Telecommunications and Tourism Rasim Ljajic stated that the weapons were exported by a private Serbian company whose name he could not give to the public. He also said that the value of the exported arms did not exceed 1 million euros, and that the arms were delivered to Armenia in two cycles, one in May and the other in June.