 Russia ally threatens Kremlin to switch to France. Armenia is eyeing deeper military cooperation with France. President Vahan Kachachurian has told media Yerevan is presently a member of several Moscow-led economic and military blocks. The Armenian leadership laid the blame on Russia after the Karabakh separatist region was retaken by Azerbaijan last month. Moscow insisted this week that it did everything it could, pointing out that Yerevan had already recognized Baku's sovereignty over the area. Appearing on France2TV channel, Kachachurian said that Armenia needed a new military partner, adding that France had expressed willingness to help us support us to strengthen our defense capabilities. He noted that negotiations on closer cooperation was already underway. French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna also confirmed to the outlet that she had asked Defense Minister Sébastien Le Corneau to assess Paris' ability to provide military aid to Yerevan. The diplomat added that the efforts were meant to avert a more complicated situation in the region. She refused, however, to go into further detail. On September 19, Baku launched counter terrorist operation in Karabakh which broke away from Azerbaijan in the early 1990s. Baku's forces retook the region in a day and the Enclaves authorities dissolved themselves on September 28 as part of a ceasefire.