Armenia awaits answers from CSTO to questions related to organization's behavior - Secretary of Security Council
YEREVAN, November 14. /ARKA/. Armenia still expects the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) to provide answer to a long list of questions, Armenian Security Council Secretary Armen Grigoryan said on Tuesday.
"In May 2021, when Azerbaijan invaded Armenia's sovereign territory, we asked for CSTO assistance. In September 2022, Azerbaijan again attacked Armenia and we again asked for CSTO assistance. We did not receive any assistance to protect our sovereign territory. Starting from that moment we had many questions to the CSTO, and we still have no answers to these questions," he said in an interview with Armenia's Public Television.
At the same time, Grigoryan said Armenia's refusal to participate in CSTO, events of which it is a member, was not a demarche against the Russian-led organization.
"We have questions about CSTO’s behavior and we expect our colleagues to give answers to these questions," he said, explaining that Armenia's non-participation is explained by this.
Asked why Armenia does not leave the CSTO, he said that "it is the best way to continue our policy."
"Armenia's membership in the CSTO in no way constrains (us) in terms of building relations with others," the Security Council Secretary said, emphasizing that «it is not Armenia that leaving the CSTO, but the CSTO is leaving the region."
On November 14, Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan told Belarusian president Lukashenko, whose country is set to host a CSTO summit later this month that he will not attend the gathering
The Armenian government said the phone call was initiated by the Belarusian leader.
Earlier this year, Pashinyan told a press conference that Armenia would not host CSTO military exercises in 2023, saying Armenia expected the Russia-led military pact to make a clear-cut assessment of Azerbaijan’s continued occupation of chunks of Armenia’s sovereign territories. Pashinyan said Armenia wanted to 'understand what the area of the CSTO’s responsibility is.”
In another rift between Armenia and CSTO Yerevan chose not to fill its quota for the CSTO Deputy Secretary General. Armenia also recalled its ambassador from the military alliance and has not appointed a replacement yet. -0-
