Armenia ready to host CSTO mission - Pashinyan
YEREVAN, April 20. /ARKA/. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan signaled today his government’s willingness to deployment of a CSTO mission along the country’s border with Azerbaijan.
"Not only Russia, but also Armenia is ready (to deployment). But we have voiced our concern. Our wish is that a possible CSTO mission be effective. It is important for Armenia, for the CSTO, and for the whole region. We will continue working in that direction," Pashinyan said today.
He said also that one should not compare the EU’s civilian mission with a CSTO mission, and added that expectations from the CSTO mission should be higher.
Earlier, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova noted that the timing of the possible deployment of the CSTO mission in Armenia depends on the Armenian side.
"The Russian side is satisfied that Armenia remains interested in accepting CSTO peacekeepers. We are convinced that this step will help stabilize the situation in the region," she said.
High-ranking Armenian officials said repeatedly that the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) must condemn Azerbaijan’s military aggression against Armenia before it can send a monitoring mission to the Armenian-Azerbaijani border.
'It is important for us that the CSTO fix the objective reality existing today, specifically, what exactly is happening in the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia," Sargis Khandanyan, the chairman of the parliamentary standing committee on foreign relations from the ruling Civil Contract party said earlier this month.
According to Khandanyan, without a detailed assessment of the current situation (i.e. Azerbaijan’s aggression against sovereign territory of Armenia) , it will be difficult to imagine the fundamental nature of that mission.
"Nevertheless, Armenia has never given up on it. It just wants the problem to be clearly recorded," the head of the commission noted.
Armenia asked for the CSTO military aid after Azerbaijan’s incursion in September 2022, which left at least 224 Armenian soldiers dead. The CSTO did not respond and was accused by Armenian leaders of ignoring the request in breach of the military pact’s statutes.
The European Union launched in late February 2023 the EU civilian mission in Armenia (EU Mission in Armenia / EUMA) under the Common Security and Defense Policy (CSDP).
The EUMA was formally established by a Council Decision on 23 January 2023. Through its deployment on the Armenian side of the Armenia-Azerbaijan border, the objectives are to contribute to stability in the border areas of Armenia, build confidence and human security in conflict-affected areas, and ensure an environment conducive to the normalization efforts between Armenia and Azerbaijan supported by the EU. -0-
