Armenian Defense Minister Suren Papikyan met with US Defense Minister Lloyd Austin at the Pentagon on December 5.
Papikyan presented to Austin the process of reforms in the RA Armed Forces, noted the primary directions of cooperation: military education, combat training, exercises in the framework of preparation for participation in international peacekeeping missions, development of professional sergeant and instruction institutes, creation of educational capabilities of the RA Armed Forces, etc.
Papikyan wrote on Facebook that Austin called his visit historic.
According to the head of the military department of Armenia, the head of the Pentagon noted that the USA supports the independence, sovereignty and well-being of Armenia, stressing that the cooperation between the two countries continues to expand.
Austin expressed the readiness of the US to continue supporting the reforms of the RA Armed Forces. International and regional security issues were also discussed.
“I confirmed Armenia’s desire to achieve long-term peace in the region. US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, in turn, expressed US support for that goal,” Papikyan wrote on Facebook.
Papikyan left for the USA on December 3. He also met Bruce Laflamme, the vice president of the American company “Milliken” specializing in the design and development of military uniforms, and Scott Grupp and Tommy Young, the heads of the company’s military and international programs, at the Armenian Embassy in Washington.