Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, army general Valery Gerasimov today held talks with Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Armenia Artak Davtyan, RIA Novosti reports.

“It’s a pleasure to welcome you to Moscow. Armenia is Russia’s key ally and partner in the South Caucasus,” Gerasimov said at the outset of the talks and added that Russia and Armenia are strengthening their partnership in the bilateral format and within international organizations and first and foremost within the scope of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO).

According to him, “the operation of the Russian 102nd Military Base in the territory of Armenia” is an indicator of the high-level relations.

“We continue to train quality specialists at the universities of the Ministry of Defense of Russia,” Gerasimov said, adding that Russia helped diagnose servicemen of the Armenian Armed Forces during the coronavirus pandemic in Armenia and that a total of more than 22,000 servicemen were tested.