Armenia’s Defense Minister Davit Tonoyan flew to Moscow on Monday for what will be his second visit to Russia in ten days.
The Armenian Defense Ministry said Tonoyan was invited by his Russian counterpart Sergey Shoygu to attend the opening ceremonies of an international defense exhibition and security conference organized by the Russian military. He will hold “a number of working meetings” during the trip, it said without going into details.
Tonoyan already travelled to Russia on August 10 to attend the closing ceremony of the 2018 International Army Games held near Moscow. He also held talks with Shoygu. According to Tonoyan’s press office, the two ministers “stressed the importance of timely realization” of Russian-Armenian defense agreements.
Last October, Russia provided Armenia with a fresh $100 million loan for buying more Russian weapons at discounted prices. Tonoyan expressed confidence on August 10 that the resulting defense contracts will be “mutually realized” despite a rare diplomatic dispute between Moscow and Yerevan. The row was sparked by criminal charges levelled in Armenia against Yuri Khachaturov, the secretary general of the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization.
The Defense Ministry in Yerevan reported that Armenia will also be represented at the annual Armia-2018 exhibition outside Moscow by another official delegation headed by Davit Pakhchanian, a deputy defense minister overseeing the Armenian defense industry. A ministry statement added that Armenian defense firms will demonstrate their products at the expo.
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