Russian MFA: Armenia’s reproaches against CSTO - unacceptable

Spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova has said that Russia does not accept the reproaches of the Armenian authorities.

"Russia does not accept the reproaches of the Armenian authorities that the Collective Security Treaty Organisation [CSTO] allegedly does not fulfill its mandate and obligations towards Yerevan during the well-known events that occurred in 2020 and 2021," she said, Caliber.Az reports.

Zakharova made these remarks at a weekly briefing while commenting on Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s statement that the so-called collective security agreement in relation to Yerevan was not implemented, especially in 2021-2022 and Armenia’s participation in the CSTO is frozen.

“I would also like to remind that an assessment mission of the secretariat and the joint headquarters of the organisation was rapidly created and sent to the country’s border areas at the request of the Armenian side in September 2022. A decision was prepared by the CSTO Collective Security Council on the deployment of a monitoring mission in Armenia. It is not our fault or the fault of other CSTO member states that this balanced decision, which envisaged military-technical assistance to the country and several other measures, was rejected by the Armenian authorities under a far-fetched pretext. Moreover, in return, Yerevan demonstratively invited the EU’s pseudo-observers. The well-known facts are obvious and leave no doubt about the zero efficiency of these representatives’ work,” she noted.

“The Republic of Armenia is still a full member of the CSTO with all the rights and obligations arising from this status. We regret that Yerevan rarely participates in the CSTO events, and this does not meet the interests of the friendly Armenian people and the tasks of ensuring the country’s security. We hope that Yerevan will understand that existing concerns must be discussed and resolved during a calm, confidential dialogue, rather than as a result of endless chaotic public discussion. If we talk about the style of the statement and its logic, I don’t really understand one thing. The Armenian representatives have recently said that the CSTO had left Armenia. If the CSTO, according to Yerevan’s authorities, has left Armenia, how can Armenia freeze its participation in it?” Zakharova added.

Zakharova also noted that the Armenian authorities spoke about their readiness to open regional routes upon the principle of sovereignty and jurisdiction within equality and reciprocity while Azerbaijan did not refuse such an approach.

“This topic was previously thoroughly discussed in the format of a tripartite working group co-chaired by the deputy prime ministers of the Russian Federation, Armenia and Azerbaijan. Unfortunately, this work has stalled due to the position of our Armenian colleagues. As for the point in the statement, which concerns control by the border service of the Russian Federal Security Service over the Meghri route [Zangezur corridor], this is logical both in terms of optimal traffic and from an economic point of view. Russian border guards already work in the southern Syunik province, they protect the border between Armenia and Iran,” Zakharova stressed.

“The ‘Crossroads of Peace’ project proposed by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan is not an alternative to the Meghri route or any other route,” she said, adding that it is rather a broader view of the future regional and subregional routes.

“As for non-regional players, their reluctance to contribute to the restoration of routes in the South Caucasus is stipulated by the political situation. They are not interested in normalising the relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan, as well as with their neighbours. They strive to tear the region into pieces and aggravate the contradictions among the countries. They will act only following their interests. They do not think about others,” Zakharova added.

Meanwhile, Zakharova also commented on the statement made by President of the Armenian National Assembly Alen Simonyan that it would be right for Russian border guards to leave Zvartnots International Airport.

“We consider this as another example of the Armenian official’s unfriendly attitude,” she said.

“Simonyan’s responsibility for the topic he raises is unclear. We have not received any requests from the Armenian authorities in this regard. We understand that this is related to the previous incident with Russian citizen Dmitry Sedrkov. I can assure you that no illegal actions were committed by the Russian representatives. We always respect the national legislation of sovereign countries,” Zakharova said.