Russian Defense Minister Army General Sergei Shoigu held a working meeting with Armenian Defense Minister Suren Papikyan on the margins of a meeting of defense ministers of member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and members of the Commonwealth of Independent States, TASS reported.

"Armenia is our CSTO ally and a key strategic partner in the Caucasus. We are extremely interested in maintaining stability in the region and we make every effort for that. We attach special importance to the development of bilateral cooperation and assistance in enhancing the capabilities of the Armenian Armed Forces," Sergei Shoigu said.

During the meeting the Ministers of Defense Ministries of Armenia and Russia approved the Plan of Cooperation between Defense Ministries of two countries for 2023.

The Russian Minister of Defense also stressed that the Russian party is ready to continue joint work.

In turn, Armenian Defense Minister Suren Papikyan noted that this is the fourth meeting this year. Today's talks are held on the margins of the meeting of CIS and SCO defense ministers. "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 defense heads of the SCO member states and CIS participants was held on Friday in Moscow, the Minister of Defense of the People's Republic of China, Colonel General Wei Fenghe spoke at the meeting via video-conferencing. The defense heads discussed international and regional security as well as further strengthening of defense and security cooperation during the meeting. A joint communiqué was signed at the end of the meeting.