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YEREVAN, DECEMBER 4, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan has addressed Armenia's relations with the CSTO and the situation surrounding them.
During a parliamentary Q&A session with Cabinet members, David Karapetyan, a deputy from the "Civil Contract" faction, touched upon the recent statement by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
According to Putin, the CSTO could not intervene in the events in Nagorno-Karabakh as there was no attack on the Republic of Armenia. The Russian President also noted that Armenia supports all documents adopted within the CSTO framework. The deputy inquired whether this contradicts the earlier statement about freezing Armenia's participation in the CSTO.
"Our position is clear: there were territorial encroachments and acts of aggression against the Republic of Armenia in 2021 and 2022. Moreover, these acts occurred after we had discussed this issue with our allies and saw events developing in that direction. At that time, we received a response from our allies stating that the borders of the Republic of Armenia are a red line for them. When the encroachments occurred, we reminded our dear colleagues that the red line they had referred to had been crossed, after which they responded, 'You know, the border is not delimited.'
"Consequently, we wondered what the red line is in this case and asked to define the CSTO zone of responsibility within the Republic of Armenia. They have not provided an answer. My response, which I have publicly stated, is that if the CSTO does not have a defined zone of responsibility in Armenia, then the CSTO as an organization does not exist.
This was the reason why, in the fall of 2022, I refused to sign the final document of the CSTO summit. The situation in Karabakh has no relation to this decision at all. We did not address the Karabakh issue in the context of freezing our participation in the CSTO," Pashinyan emphasized.
As for the documents, Pashinyan noted that Armenia has frozen its participation in the CSTO's activities. This means Armenia neither participates in the development of documents, their discussion, nor in making proposals or expressing opinions on proposals.
“We simply do not veto any document because, in fact, we already consider ourselves outside the CSTO. Let them decide whatever they want. We do not interfere in their affairs, and this is out of respect for our partners," Pashinyan stated.
"But I repeat, the discrepancy between these events and their now public mutual expression makes the return of the Republic of Armenia to the CSTO increasingly difficult, if not impossible. I believe we have crossed the point of no return," Pashinyan concluded.