ARMENIA TO COOPERATE WITH BOTH NATO, CIS DEFENCE BODY – DEFENCE CHIEF

Public TV, Armenia
Nov 22 2006

[Presenter] A delegation headed by Defence Minister Serzh Sarkisyan
left for Belarus today to attend the sessions of the Defence Ministers
Council of the Collective Security Treaty Organization [CSTO] to be
held in Brest on 23 November.

The Armenian delegation will also take part in the gathering of the
Security Council secretaries of the CSTO member states in Minsk on
24-25 November. An agreement on military cooperation in 2007 will be
signed by the Russian, Belarussian and Ukrainian defence ministers.

Before departure Serzh Sarkisyan told journalists at the airport that
Armenia is a member of the CSTO and at the same time is implementing
a partnership plan with NATO.

[Serzh Sarkisyan captioned] I have announced that membership in the
CSTO and cooperation with NATO follow from our policies and do not run
counter to each other. It is high time to realize that all military
and political alliances are created for and not against something. NATO
was not established against something, but for Europe’s security.

The Collective Security Treaty was signed not against NATO, but to
ensure security of the CSTO member countries.