Russian, Armenian Defense Ministers Discuss Peacekeeping Mission In Karabakh

MOSCOW — Armenian Defense Minister Suren Papikyan discussed with his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh and the activities of Russian peacekeepers in the region as they held talks on the sidelines of a Moscow conference on Tuesday.

The Russian Defense Ministry quoted Shoigu as saying during his meeting with Papikyan that “we have things to discuss, there are traditional issues related to our military-technical and military cooperation.”

“And, of course, it is issues related to the activities of our peacekeeping contingent, which performs tasks in Nagorno-Karabakh. We continue to believe just as you do that the main stabilizing factor is the ceasefire along the entire line of contact,” the Russian defense minister said.

Shoigu also reportedly thanked his Armenian counterpart for attending the opening of the International Army Games and the Army-2022 International Military-Technical Forum, as well as for participating in the Moscow Conference on International Security.

Papikyan, as quoted by Russia’s Defense Ministry, noted, for his part, “the high level of bilateral Armenian-Russian allied cooperation” that he said was evidenced by his second meeting with Shoigu since the beginning of this year.

“This meeting is very important for us. We highly appreciate the achieved level of Armenian-Russian cooperation, as well as the role of the Russian presence in the South Caucasus,” the Armenian defense minister said.