Defense Minister Davit Tonoyan met with his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu in Moscow on Sunday to discuss the situation in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone and Armenia’s close military ties with Russia.
The two men held talks on the sidelines of a security forum timed to coincide with the start of the annual International Army Games organized by the Russian military.
The Armenian Defense Ministry said they discussed the aftermath of last month’s deadly fighting on Armenia’s border with Azerbaijan and the current situation there as well as the Armenian-Azerbaijani “line of contact” around Karabakh.
“Davit Tonoyan emphasized that the aggressive rhetoric of some countries and steps of military nature taken by them are aimed at destabilizing and militarizing the regional situation,” read a ministry statement.
Tonoyan appeared to refer to not only Azerbaijan but also Turkey which has blamed Yerevan for the border clashes and voiced support for Baku in unusually strong terms. Ankara’s reaction, strongly condemned by the Armenian government, has raised the possibility of Turkish military intervention in the Karabakh conflict.
Russian President Vladimir Putin warned against attempts to further heighten tensions in the conflict zone when he spoke with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan by phone on July 27.
Russia has up to 5,000 troops stationed in Armenia. Successive Armenian governments have regarded the Russian military presence as a crucial deterrent against possible Turkish aggression.
The clashes between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces broke out on July 12 and continued for several days, leaving at least 17 soldiers from both sides dead. Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said last week that “active Russian mediation” helped to stop them.
According to the Defense Ministry statement, Shoigu and Tonoyan also discussed bilateral ties and reached understandings on “upcoming steps towards military cooperation” between their countries. The statement did not elaborate.
The Russian Defense Ministry similarly gave no details of their discussion of “pressing issues of bilateral cooperation in the military sphere.”
Tonoyan’s press office also reported that during his latest trip to Moscow the Armenian defense minister will meet with top Russian defense industry executives and government officials overseeing Russian arms exports. Russia has long been the principal sources of weapons and other military hardware supplied to the Armenian army.