ArmInfo. Despite the fact that so far the talk is exclusively about granting Azerbaijan observer status in the CSTO, Armenia and Artsakh should take into account the possible consent of Baku to full membership in this Organization. Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Artsakh Arman Melikyan expressed a similar opinion to ArmInfo.
On September 12, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov stated in Yerevan that Russia was not opposed to Azerbaijan becoming an observer in the CSTO, stressing the Organization's readiness to cooperate with all former Soviet republics.
"Membership in the CSTO will allow Baku to attract Artsakh to the attention of the other member countries and the CSTO itself. In this case, at the request of the Azerbaijani authorities, Artsakh may well become the area of special military operations. At a minimum, Azerbaijan will use membership in the CSTO as a new opportunity to build up pressure in Artsakh, "he stressed.
According to the diplomat, Moscow is experiencing a logically justified interest in establishing as close cooperation with Baku as possible, including within the framework of the CSTO. In this sense, according to his forecasts, observer status can become only the first step of Azerbaijan, followed by full membership. In this light, Melikyan is convinced of the need for Yerevan's immediate reaction in the form of blocking any steps aimed at gaining observer status or membership in the CSTO by Azerbaijan. The diplomat emphasized that in this particular case it does not matter at all who will come forward with the corresponding proposal. The agreement about Collective Security Treaty Organization was signed in Tashkent on May 15, 1992. Currently, the CSTO members are Armenia, Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.