On 4 September, at a joint session of defence ministers of Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) countries in Moscow, Armenian Defence Minister David Tonoyan called for stronger joint efforts to prevent the threat of outbreak of wars and armed clashes in the South Caucasus region, reported arka.am. 

In his words, regional security cannot be ensured “autonomously” and outside the framework of the existing global security systems. Tonoyan stated that the main task of the international community is to build a stable world based on preventing the emergence of new hotbeds of instability. He said such instabilities emerge when a country tries to impose its regional geopolitical ambitions by using a full range of destructive approaches fuelled by an expansionist ideology. According to him, building steady peace is possible only under the condition of conscientious and unwavering observance by all parties of their international obligations, as well as strengthening collective principles, primarily the UN mechanisms. 

“Armenia has always stood for the equal application of the norms of international law and the right of free choice, reasonable globalization and the architecture of international security based on refraining from the policy of force and maximalist approaches, rhetoric of hatred and militant statements,” Tonoyan stressed. “The basis for resolving the existing disputes and disagreements between the states should be exclusively peaceful negotiations based on the principle of non-interference in internal affairs,” he added. 

The head of the Armenian defence ministry noted that the military-political situation in the South Caucasus is characterized by a high conflict potential and noted that recently there has been an exacerbation of contradictions in the region. In his opinion, is a consequence of the “expansion of ambitions of certain countries”. In this regard, Tonoyan added that the Russian presence in the region, as well as the deepening military-political cooperation between Armenia and Russia, are the most important deterrent factor contributing to the preservation of regional stability and security. He also emphasised at the meeting that Armenia’s sphere of strategic interests includes not only the Caucasus region, but the entire area of responsibility of the CSTO, as well as the Middle East and the Eastern Mediterranean.

Two days after Tonoyan made the statements, the servicemen at the Russian military base located in Armenia and the servicemen of Armenia went to the Kamkhud and Alagyaz military training grounds—and within the framework of bilateral tactical battalion exercises. About a thousand Russian servicemen and about 300 units of special military equipment are involved in this tactical exercise. 

On 26 August, Tonoyan called for the formation of a nationwide militia that would reinforce Armenia’s armed forces in times of war. Azerbaijan has, on multiple occasions, expressed their concerns that the Armenians who left Lebanon after the Beirut explosion would be used to bolster the ranks of Tonoyan’s proposed militia (Caucasus Watch reported).