On August 23, 2019, Merab Kishmaria, de facto Minister of Defence of Abkhazia, met Sergei Shoigu, Minister of Defence of Russian Federation, in Moscow. At the meeting parties discussed the cooperation plan for strengthening interaction between armed forces.

Joint agreement on financing modernization of de facto armed forces of Abkhazia was also signed at the meeting. The agreement was signed within the framework of Alliance and Strategic Partnership agreement between Russia and Abkhazia.

In the same week was reported that 60 Abkhazian cadets enrolled at the military school of the Ministry of Defence of Russia.