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Armenia Russia's key strategic partner in South Caucasus, says Shoigu

The Russian Defense Minister also stressed that the Russian side was ready to continue joint work

MOSCOW, December 9. /TASS/. Russian Defense Minister Army General Sergey Shoigu held a working meeting with his Armenian counterpart Suren Papikyan on the sidelines of a meeting of the heads of the military departments of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) member states.

"Armenia is our CSTO ally and a key strategic partner in the South Caucasus region. We are extremely interested in maintaining stability in the region and we make every effort to achieve this. We attach special importance to the development of bilateral cooperation and assistance in enhancing the capabilities of the Armenian armed forces," Sergey Shoigu said.

During the meeting of Russian and Armenian defense chiefs the Plan of Cooperation between the Defense Ministries of the two countries for 2023 was approved.

The Russian Defense Minister also stressed that the Russian side was ready to continue joint work.

In turn, Armenian defense chief Suren Papikyan noted that this was their fourth meeting this year. "We highly appreciate your initiative and efforts to organize the summit that took place. December is always a time for summing up and reflecting on plans for the future, today we will be signing a plan for 2023," he said.

The meeting of the heads of the military departments of SCO and CIS member states was held on Friday in Moscow. Chinese National Defense Minister Colonel General Wei Fenghe spoke at the meeting in a videoconference format. The defense chiefs discussed international and regional security as well as further strengthening of defense and security cooperation during the meeting. A joint communique was signed at the end of the meeting.

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