Suren Papikyan: We discussed Armenia-Cyprus-Greece trilateral collaboration

It is symbolic that this visit by the minister of defense of Greece follows the visit by the prime minister of Armenia to Greece last week with a comprehensive agenda. Armenian Defense Minister Suren Papikyan stated this during a joint press conference with his visiting Greek colleague, Nikolaos "Nikos" Dendias, in Yerevan Monday.

"All this proves that there are high-level political relations between our two countries, which are based on traditional friendship, mutual assistance, willingness, values, and shared approaches of the peoples of both countries.

Cooperation in the defense sector has its own place in these relations. It is being carried out in directions of mutual interest, some of which are of a traditional nature and have been carried out since the very beginning of cooperation in the defense sector between the two countries formed after the independence of Armenia [in 1991]. And the rest are the new domains formed as a result of agreements.

Military education, personnel training, exchange of experience and information, politico-military consultations, etc. are among the traditional domains,” Papikyan added.

The Armenian defense minister noted that he presented to Dendias the course of the reforms being implemented in Armenia in the defense sector, and highlighted the need for expert and practical assistance by friendly Greece in this matter.

"During the meeting that took place a little while ago, we discussed matters related to military-technical cooperation. In particular, we underscored breathing new life to military-technical cooperation after the ratification of the agreement on military-technical cooperation between the governments of Armenia and Greece signed during my visit to Greece in December 2023.

During the discussions, we touched also on international and regional security challenges. In this context, it is worth noting that the two countries have the same approaches and perceptions towards strengthening the regional and international security environment, which was once again reconfirmed during our discussions.

With my [Greek] colleague, we discussed also Armenia-Cyprus-Greece cooperation in the trilateral format, we reflected on the possibilities of multilateral cooperation with other friendly countries that share the same values.

We underscored the close cooperation of the two countries within the framework of international organizations, particularly the EU and NATO.

I would like to emphasize specifically that Greece was the first country to pave the way for Armenia in relations with European organizations and states, participation in international missions, and many other matters in the defense sector," said Papikyan.