In November 2021, Nikol Pashinyan instructed the Ministry of Defense to actively use direct communication with Azerbaijan.

President of the European Council Charles Michel also spoke about the establishment of a direct connection between the defense ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan when he received Ilham Aliyev and Nikol Pashinyan at the end of last year.

The current head of the defense department, Suren Papikyan, assumed the post of minister on November 15, 2021.

168.am tried to find out in the Ministry of Defense whether a direct connection had been established between Suren Papikyan and Zakir Hasanov during this time, if so, how many times and whether it exists today.

The press secretary of the Armenian Ministry of Defense Aram Torosyan, in response to a request, said: “The direct connection established between the defense ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan has not been operating for several months.”