Pashinyan’s border
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who chaired the Collective Security Treaty Organization member states summit in Yerevan on November 23, said that the participants of the meeting could not agree on two final documents.
At the opening of the CSTO session, Pashinyan said in an expanded format, “We completed our meeting in a narrow format, 17 draft decisions were presented, there was consensus on 15 projects, we made decisions, two drafts were sent for revision.”
At the last briefing, the Secretary General of the organization Stanislav Zas confirmed that the Armenian side did not sign two documents – this is a draft resolution and a final declaration on the provision of aid to Armenia.
“document [об оказании помощи Армении] In the current difficult situation regarding the tension on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border, a number of measures have been agreed with a high degree of preparedness. The document is generally considered to have been prepared, but needs to be finalized. It was instructed to conclude it and present it to the heads of state for signature. The same goes for the declaration. “A high degree of preparation, but a number of edits to the document will be required,” said Zas.
At the same time, the CSTO Secretary General described this process as completely normal, as there is no single international organization whose members all adhere to exactly the same point of view.
What does not fit Yerevan
At a CSTO meeting, Pashinyan stated that despite the collective protection guarantees, Yerevan was attacked by Baku during the escalating Karabakh conflict in 2020.
“Unlike an anniversary, our mood is definitely not an anniversary. Armenia has been attacked by Azerbaijan at least three times in the last two years.
It is depressing that Armenia’s CSTO membership does not deter Azerbaijan from aggressive actions, and in fact, we have not been able to come to a decision on the CSTO’s response to this aggression so far. These facts greatly damage CSTO’s image both in our country and abroad.”
He added that he sees the lack of response as the main failure of Armenia’s leadership of the organization. The Prime Minister reminded that during the mass protests in Kazakhstan in January 2022, it took a day for the CSTO to develop a solution, which greatly helped to quench the unrest and prevent a coup d’etat.
The press service of the Armenian government also published Pashinyan’s explanation of why he refused to sign the two final documents. According to the Prime Minister, the draft declaration and aid resolution lacks the necessary and rational political assessment of Azerbaijan’s actions in terms of allied relations.
“Such a position is important not only for restoring the territorial integrity of the Republic of Armenia, but also for deterring Azerbaijan from further aggressive actions against our country. The fact that Azerbaijan continues to risk a new attack on the territorial integrity of Armenia was reported by Stanislav Zas, Secretary General of the CSTO, at the extraordinary meeting of the CSC on October 28 this year. Under these circumstances, the absence of a clear political assessment of the situation and the failure to adopt the aforementioned resolution may not only mean CSTO’s refusal of allied obligations, but could also be interpreted by Azerbaijan as CSTO’s green light for further aggression. Against Armenia,” Pashinyan said.
He stated that this contradicted not only the letter, but also the spirit and meaning of the core documents of the CSTO, so he was not ready to sign the documents.
Later, RIA Novosti journalists from the Kremlin pool published a part of a video recording from the meetings of the leaders of the CSTO member states with the headline “It seems that Pashinyan has made it clear that he will not sign anything”.
In the ten-second video, the Prime Minister of Armenia says that the meeting is over and thanks those present. Upon this, Alexander Lukashenko, sitting across from him, opens his arms in surprise and asks Pashinyan something. After that, the head of the Armenian government repeats “Thank you very much” louder and more distinctly.
The next round of armed conflict between Yerevan and Baku, called the Second Karabakh War, began at the end of September 2020. For a month and a half, the parties used heavy weapons and aircraft. As a result, according to official data, more than 6.5 thousand people died on both sides (speaking of the losses of their rivals, both Armenia and Azerbaijan reported 7-8 thousand deaths). On November 10, the parties signed a ceasefire agreement with the participation of Moscow. Armenia actually lost its control over the seven regions of Nagorno-Karabakh during the conflict. The domestic opposition accused Pashinyan of military operations and the failure of diplomacy. Since November 2020, the conflict between the parties has resumed three more times: in May 2021, in August and September 2022. The clashes then continued for several days, with hundreds of dead and wounded reported.
What do they think in the Kremlin?
One of the first to officially comment on Armenia’s position was the press secretary of Russian President Dmitry Peskov. According to him, Pashinyan has the right to see the situation as the failure of the CSTO.
“At the beginning, speaking in a narrow format, the Prime Minister of Armenia said that the CSTO’s work on the situation between Armenia and Azerbaijan tends to be interpreted as a fiasco. It is the right of the Armenian side to evaluate the situation in this way. But on the other hand, the demand for the CSTO is clear in this case,” he said.
The Kremlin spokesman stressed that despite disagreements and the lack of agreement on all final documents, Armenia will remain a member of the “unconditional” organization. And this confirms the relevance and applicability of the CSTO. Peskov assured that Moscow will remain a mediator in resolving the conflict between Yerevan and Baku and will make every effort to get the parties to sign a peace agreement, together with other members of the organization.