Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian on Wednesday criticized the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) for not preventing Azerbaijan’s «aggression» in the framework of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
«It is sad that Armenia’s membership in the CSTO did not prevent Azerbaijan from resorting to aggressive actions, and even more so that, in fact, until today we have not been able to make a decision on the CSTO’s response to Azerbaijan’s aggression against Armenia,» he said, Armenpress news agency reported.
Pashinian stressed that these events «damage the reputation» of the organization and are «a failure». Within the framework of his speech, the Armenian Prime Minister also informed that he will not sign a CSTO statement on the conflict with Azerbaijan because it does not have the necessary provisions.
«At this moment I believe that the draft ‘CSTO Declaration on joint measures to provide assistance to the Republic of Armenia’ submitted for signature is not sufficiently finalized, and thus, with due respect, I am not ready to sign,» he has indicated, as reported by TASS news agency.
Pashinian also spent a few minutes to propose acceleration of political and diplomatic work with Azerbaijan, despite the fact that he stressed that Baku has launched «unjustified and unprovoked aggression» against Yerevan, listing recent attacks in the region.
«I would like to respond to the comments according to which Armenia is trying to involve the CSTO countries in the war with Azerbaijan. This is just speculation, because Armenia cannot be interested in war, if only because it has suffered enough from wars, including the one in September this year,» he added.
The governments of Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed in September to a ceasefire after the latest clashes on the border, which resulted in more than 200 deaths. The fighting is the most serious since 2020, when they clashed over control of Nagorno-Karabakh, a territory with a majority Armenian population that has been the focus of conflict since it decided to secede in 1988 from the Soviet Union-integrated region of Azerbaijan.
