In a statement on the talks, the Armenian Defense Ministry said they “outlined a number of new directions” of those ties.
Speaking at a joint press briefing, Papikian said that they discussed the implementation of a Greek-Armenian agreement on “military-technical cooperation” signed by them in Athens in December. But neither he nor Dendias gave any details.
The Greek minister indicated that a 2024 plan of joint activities by the two militaries mainly includes training and education. “At the same time we plan to introduce a number of successful innovative achievements in the field of defense,” he said.
The Armenian government announced last August that the impending Greek-Armenian agreement on military-technical cooperation calls for mutual research on and transfer of defense technology as well as the creation of joint ventures that will manufacture unspecified military equipment and ammunition.
It said the two sides will also train military personnel and repair military hardware imported from “third countries.” These joint activities will be coordinated by a commission to be set up by the Greek and Armenian militaries.
Greece has trained hundreds of Armenian officers at its military academies since the 1990s but is not known to have supplied any heavy weaponry to the South Caucasus country so far.
Russia has long been Armenia’s principal supplier of weapons and ammunition. But with Russian-Armenian relations worsening since the 2020 war in Nagorno-Karabakh and Russia embroiled in a large-scale war with Ukraine, Yerevan is looking for other arms suppliers. It has signed major arms deals with India and France.
Dendias revealed on Monday that India and France are also engaged in “trilateral and quadrilateral” defense cooperation with Greece and Armenia. But he did not elaborate.
Dendias previously visited Yerevan in September 2022 in his capacity as Greece’s foreign minister. That visit took place in the wake of Azerbaijan’s offensive military operations at the border with Armenia, with Dendias expressing “our solidarity with the Armenian government and the Armenian people.”
His latest trip comes one week after Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s visit to Athens. “We have a long history of cooperation in the field of defense, and I am sure that our cooperation will become more effective,” Pashinian said after talks with his Greek counterpart Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
Greece and Armenia have also been exploring closer links in a trilateral format involving Cyprus. Armenian, Cypriot and Greek officials held “defense consultations” in Cyprus last July.