Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder provided the following readout:
Today, Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III met with Armenian Minister of Defense Suren Papikyan, the first such meeting in two decades. Secretary Austin and Minister Papikyan reaffirmed the strategic partnership between our two countries and reaffirmed our shared objective of an enduring peace in the South Caucasus. The two leaders also discussed ongoing and future security cooperation efforts, such as military education and professionalization, institutional capacity-building, and training.