CSTO statement on its zone of responsibility in Armenia is ‘incomprehensible’ - pro-government MP
YEREVAN, April 3. /ARKA/. The head of the parliamentary committee on state-legal issues from the ruling Civil Contract party Vladimir Vardanyan described as "incomprehensible" the statement of the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) on its zone of responsibility in Armenia.
On April 1, the CSTO responded to Yerevan's demand to clarify its zone of responsibility in Armenia by saying that "the CSTO's zone of responsibility ends where the state border passes, which is settled bilaterally between Armenia and its neighbors."
According to Vardanyan, this kind of statement is at least incomprehensible from the point of view of both universal logic, foreign policy, allied relations, general logic of such collective security organizations, and international law.
He told Armenia's Public Television that a country can make demands when it becomes a member of a collective security organization, "but the rules should be clarified at the beginning of the game."
Noting that state borders separates sovereign territories of two states, Vardanyan said the failure to delimit does not mean that there is no state border.
"Border disputes and issues that may concern the bilateral border arise in many countries; there may always be disagreements about borders, but no one disputes the name of the sovereign territory of this or that entity," he explained, adding that there are states whose borders run along the respective geographical points without delimitation.
The MP called thes CSTO statement "nonsense" not only from the point of view of international law, but also from the point of view of the logic of the existence of the security structure.
"If a person has a desire, he looks for opportunities, and if there is no desire, he looks for excuses. If this is an official statement of the CSTO, then, unfortunately, the search for excuses is at the core here," he emphasized.
On March 12, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that Yerevan will leave the CSTO if the organization does not answer "the question of what is the CSTO's zone of responsibility in Armenia." According to Pashinyan, If the CSTO answers this question and its answer corresponds to Armenia’s expectations, it will mean that the problems between Armenia and the CSTO have been solved.”
Armenia officially requested support from other CSTO member states following Azerbaijan's offensive military operations launched along the Armenian-Azerbaijani border in September 2022. Since then, it has repeatedly accused them of ignoring the request. It has rejected CSTO offers of "military-technical assistance" and a monitoring mission to the border.
Last year, Yerevan boycotted summits, military exercises and other CSTO events. In February this year Pashinyan said Armenia de facto suspened its membership in the alliance of six former Soviet republics. The prime minister said the alliance was becoming a threat to Armenia’s country's security.-0-
