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President of the Union of Armenians in Russia (UAR) Ara Abrahamyan on Tuesday met with representatives of the Armenian community in the southeast of Moscow and the adjacent districts of the Moscow region where brawls had erupted between Armenians and Azerbaijanis, the union’s press service reported.

The meeting took place at the Sayat Nova Restaurant Complex in Kapotnya, which was attacked by a group of Azerbaijanis on Friday.

The meeting was attended by around 300 representatives of the Armenian community, representatives of the Russia Presidential Office and the Federal Agency for Ethnic Affairs, as well as heads of regional branches of the Union of Armenians in Russia.

Ara Abrahamyan briefed those present on the steps taken by the Union of Armenians in Russia from the very beginning of the clashes during direct communication with state and law enforcement agencies, NGOs, as well as the leaders of the Azerbaijani community.

He urged Armenians not to take ill-considered steps and be united.

“The entire 10 million Diaspora Armenians from around the world are soldiers ready to defend Armenia from the encroachments of Azerbaijan and Turkey,” he said.

According to him, the fact that the Russian market and shop owners of Azerbaijani origin have today backed out comes to show that the Russian authorities have made it clear that only the Russian law applies in the country and neither Baku nor Istanbul can dictate their own rules to Russia.

Abrahamyan thanked all the participants for attending the meeting and for the solidarity shown these days.

The attendees exchanged views on existing issues at the meeting.