The Collective Security Treaty Organization’s outgoing Secretary-General Stanislav Zas said that he was confident a declaration about the group’s assistance to Armenia will be ratified in the neat future, adding that when Armenia appealed for assistance after Azerbaijan’s invasion in September the CSTO offered to send military support.
During a CSTO session in Yerevan last month, a declaration was drafted about the organization’s assistance to Armenia. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan vetoed the document saying it lacked concrete assessment of the situation in Armenia, namely the absence of a condemnation of Azerbaijan.
Zas claimed during a press conference on Monday that the CSTO was swift to act immediately after the September 13 invasion of Armenia, adding that the group’s security council convened an unprecedented five sessions, three of which at Pashinyan’s urging.
“Three sessions were convened by the Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. The situation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border was discussed during the emergency sessions of the CSTO Collective Security Council. Upon the instruction of the leaders a monitoring mission was developed led by the Secretary General and the Chief of the Joint Staff. I would like to emphasize the swift response during the events in September,” Zas said.
“It was immediately decided to send a monitoring mission to Armenia. Literally a day later an aircraft carrying the first group of the monitoring mission landed in Yerevan. And further studies showed that we can work wherever it is required to act swiftly and effectively,” Zas explained.
“As a result of that mission’s work, several decisions by the Collective Security Council regarding the measures to provide assistance to Armenia were developed and discussed during the November 23 [summit] in Yerevan,” said Zas.
“I expect that after necessary amendments we will adopt two highly important complementary documents – I am speaking about providing assistance to Armenia and the statement of the CSTO foreign ministerial council in support of the efforts for establishing peace in the South Caucasus region,” Zas explained.
The CSTO Secretary General said that the organization was committed to Armenia and the current challenges facing the country—a member state—adding that the group also offered military support to Armenia following the September 13 attack, without specifying what that assistance entailed.
He said that Armenia’s expectation to have CSTO member-states actively deploy forces to de-occupy Armenia is fraught with consequences, that also include “unleashing a regional war.”
