On 7 August, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić spoke with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev following an arms delivery scandal during the border hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan in July, reported Trend. 

During the call Vučić expressed regret over Armenia’s use of Serbian-made weapons during the clashes and sent his condolences over the killing of Azerbaijani servicemen during the hostilities. Vučić noted that a high-level Serbian delegation will be sent to Azerbaijan in the near future to investigate the incident. He also commended on the friendly relations with Azerbaijan based on a strategic partnership and invited the Azerbaijani president to pay an official visit to Serbia.

Expressing gratitude for the phone call, President Ilham Aliyev noted that Armenia’s use of Serbian-made caused concern among the Azerbaijani public.

The sides decided to prevent any actions that could overshadow the friendly relations between the two countries in the future.

Meanwhile, in Serbia the debate on the export scandal is still ongoing. Vučić presented a document stating that on 24 May 2012, at the proposal of the then Ministry of Economy, the Government of Serbia reached a conclusion - that it agreed with that ministry to export weapons for the needs of the state bodies of the Republic of Armenia. The conclusion, he said, was signed by Serbia’s former Prime Minister Mirko Cvetković and that that decision was still in power.

The opposition in Serbia stated that the revealed document by Vučić was manipulative in nature, saying that in 2006 Serbia halted the export of arms to Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia.

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 (Caucasus Watch reported).