On 29 August, the assistant to Azerbaijan’s President, Hikmet Hajiyev, publicly stated that Russia has been “intensively arming Armenia” since the July border clashes in the Tovuz region, with its Il-76 strategic airlifters flying towards Armenia after 17 July, reported Reuters. 

He added that Russian officials told Azerbaijan that those Il-76 planes were carrying building materials and that Baku was not satisfied with the answer. “Construction materials are usually not supplied in aeroplanes, there are other tools for that,” Hajiyev said. “Based on observations we also have information that arms are being shipped to the Syrian territory via the Armenia territory,” he added.

A day later, Armenia’s Defence Minister Davit Tonoyan confirmed that the Armenian government is negotiating with Russia for the possible acquisition of additional Su-30SM fighter jets for its air force. He also replied to the comments from Baku, saying that Russia does not transport military supplies to Armenia. “The transfer was carried out within the framework of the 102nd Russian military base. Russia does not transport military cargo for Armenia now. We do it ourselves,” he said.

On 26 August, Azerbaijan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Jeyhun Bayramov conducted his working visit to Moscow where he met with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov where various topics on Azerbaijani-Russian relations were discussed. A day earlier,  Russia's Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu visited Baku where he met with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Defence Minister Zakir Hassanov. The three officials discussed a wide range of topics (Caucasus Watch reported). On the evening of 12 August, Aliyev called his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to discuss the hostilities in the Tovuz area on July 12-16. He also told Putin that the intensity in the delivery of military cargo from Russia to Armenia after the clashes raised concern and serious questions among the Azerbaijani public and that he wanted to clarify this matter (Caucasus Watch reported).