On 16 June, the acting Minister of Defense of the Republic of Armenia Vagharshak Harutyunyan had a telephone conversation with the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation, General of the Army Sergei Shoigu. The RA Ministry of Defense informs about this.

“The heads of the defense ministries of the two strategic allies discussed ways to resolve the situation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. Vagharshak Harutyunyan noted that the Armenian side respects the calls of the partner states’ structures to settle the issue peacefully, adding that the position of the Armenian side is unchanged. Representatives of the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan must leave the sovereign territories of the Republic of Armenia without any preconditions.

Vagharshak Harutyunyan and Sergei Shoigu also discussed the deployment of Russian border guards in the Armenian-Azerbaijani border sections of the RA Syunik and Gegharkunik regions.

“Reference was made to the mission of the Russian Federation peacekeeping force in the Artsakh Republic, the Armenian-Russian cooperation in the defense sphere, as well as a number of issues related to regional issues,” the statement reads.