Secretary of Security Council: Armenia discussed withdrawal from CSTO
YEREVAN, May 14. /ARKA/. The mechanisms that were supposed to ensure Armenia's security have collapsed and no new ones have been created, Armenian Security Council Secretary Armen Grigoryan said in an interview with Novaya Gazeta Europe newspaper.
"In recent years, the security architecture in the world and, in particular, in our region has changed dramatically. Prior to that everything was clear and understandable. Conventionally speaking, we thought it would be possible to make a phone call and say, 'I have a problem' and the answer would be, 'Okay, honey, we can help. We tried it and we see that this mechanism doesn't work. Contractual obligations are not being honored. Our whole security concept was built on this basis and there is no new one yet," Grigoryan said.
According to him, it is necessary to seek new mechanisms and new armament supply, because "objectively we have not got what we have ordered and what we have paid for to Russia."
Armen Grigoryan admitted that there had been discussions about Armenia's withdrawal from the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO).
"To be honest, yes, there were such discussions, it is a natural reaction. We expected the CSTO to respond last September during Azerbaijan's direct aggression on Armenian territory. It did not," Gigoryan said.
Earlier this month, in Prague, speaking at the Center for Transatlantic Relations, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said he faced some difficulties in his relations with CSTO.
'We think that the CSTO has failed to fulfill its obligations with regard to Armenia," he said.
'Last year we could not reach consensus with CSTO. We stated our position and expressed our dissatisfaction to the organization. We are frank and transparent, and this creates additional difficulties," the Prime Minister stressed.
On September 13, 2022 Azerbaijan launched an unprovoked and unjustified military aggression against Armenia. Using heavy artillery, multiple rocket launchers and combat UAVs, the Azerbaijani armed forces shelled 36 residential areas and communities, including towns of Goris, Jermuk, Vardenis, Kapan, Geghamasar deep within the sovereign territory of Armenia.
The Azerbaijani attack deliberately targeted civilian population and vital civilian infrastructures. According to official information, more than 200 Armenian citizens, both military personnel and civilians were killed and went missing, 293 servicemen were wounded, 3 civilians and 20 servicemen were taken captives.
Armenia invoked all possible articles of the CSTO treaty, seeking assistance, but received none.
On March 10, 2023 Armenia refused to name a deputy secretary-general of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO). Earlier, Armenia called off a CSTO military exercise that was scheduled to take place in Armenia later this year.
In 2022 November Armenia turned down CSTO member states’ offer to deploy monitors along its border with Azerbaijan, citing their reluctance to acknowledge and condemn the “Azerbaijani aggression against sovereign territory of Armenia'.-0-
