Expansion of Armenia-NATO Interaction within IPAP Complements CSTO

PanARMENIAN.Net

Expansion of Armenia-NATO Interaction within IPAP Complements CSTO
15.12.2006 15:45 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Judging from the statements by some high rank
officials of the RA government Armenia is not afraid of NATO.
Armenia’s membership in the CSTO is not a barrier, head of the center
of Caucasian Studies at the Moscow State Institute of International
Relations (MGIMO) Vladimir Zakharov said in an interview with
PanARMENIAN.Net. `The CSTO regulations do not restrict the cooperation
with other international structures. Moreover, on a number of issues
the CSTO and NATO experience common problems and the cooperation of
these two structures and separate states create extra guarantees in
the South Caucasus,’ he remarked.

According to him, Armenia’s participation in the IPAP supposes
conduction of periodical consultations with NATO on regional security,
elaboration of the strategy and military doctrine, perfection of the
defense and budget planning and other issues. `As a matter of fact,
interaction within the CSTO and bilateral cooperation with Russia do
not completely ensure Armenia’s security against the challenges of the
21st century and expansion of interaction with NATO within the IPAP
complements the absent links,’ Zakharov underscored.