Armenia refuses to accept CSTO observers

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has said that Yerevan refuses to accept the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) mission without assessing the actions of Baku

According to him, Armenia expects two things – the definition of the zone of responsibility of the CSTO and a clear assessment of Azerbaijan’s actions on the border with the republic, TASS reports.

“Now we are being offered assistance, including military-technical assistance. First, it is not clear what kind of assistance is being offered. In addition, to accept this assistance without clear assessments would mean accepting the status quo that exists on our borders. To accept the monitoring mission of the CSTO without clear assessments from the CSTO will mean fixation and resignation to the status quo,” Pashinyan said.

The prime minister recalled that the work of EU observers became possible only after the recognition of the integrity of states on the basis of the Alma-Ata Declaration, signed in 1991. “Because if we don’t give the observer a clear direction of where the boundary is, where and what will he observe?” he added.

On November 23, Pashinyan refused to sign the declaration of the Collective Security Council (CSC) of the CSTO. The reason was the lack of a clear political position of the organization on the issue of aggression by Azerbaijan.