The CSTO is leaving the Republic of Armenia willingly or unwillingly, and that worries us. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated this during his press conference today.
"When the CSTO chairman had visited Armenia in 2020, he told me in a conversation that there is a fear in the CSTO that the Republic of Armenia will leave the CSTO. I said: I think that fear is not appropriate, the other fear that exists in the Republic of Armenia is appropriate; that is, CSTO will leave the Republic of Armenia. My assessment is that the CSTO is leaving the Republic of Armenia willingly or unwillingly, and that worries us," said Pashinyan.
According to the PM, Armenia would be happy to take over the position of the CSTO Deputy Secretary General if assuming that position does not result in a wrong message being sent to the Armenian people.
"If it means adding another factor of ensuring the security of the Republic of Armenia, if it doesn't mean that, we don't see the point in taking such a step—at least from the logic of being honest with our people. We have worked with CSTO for a long time and consistently, and we continue to work. We have proposed our principles, which are not about the Republic of Armenia, it is about whether the CSTO is functioning or not, whether it exists or not, at least in the territory of the Republic of Armenia. We are ready to face this issue," he said.
Referring to the remarks that the Armenian army does not participate in combat operations, and they want CSTO to come and defend Armenia, Pashinyan responded: "In November and September 2022, military clashes took place in Armenia [with Azerbaijan]. They were saying that the Armenian government petitioned to the CSTO with the wrong article, it did not petition with Article 4, it specifically petitioned in such a way that even if the CSTO wanted to, it would not be able to make a decision. We petitioned to the CSTO with all possible articles that were possible, we petitioned."