Tuesday, June 8 2021 12:17

ArmInfo.The announced CSTO exercises in Armenia, apparently, are Moscow's response to the interest shown by the collective West in relation to Armenia in  general, and to the current situation on the borders of Armenia, in  particular. Political scientist Robert Ghevondyan expressed this  opinion to ArmInfo.

On June 3, CSTO Press Secretary Vladimir Zainetdinov told reporters  about the ( "Thunder- 2021" ) special military exercises  that are being prepared for holding this year in Armenia. "During  the exercises, practical actions will be worked out in two stages  with the use of armored vehicles, special vehicles, aviation,  unmanned aerial vehicles, and search dogs. On June 1-3, headquarters  negotiations were held in Armenia on preparation for training  exercises, which provides for the formation of special forces of the  Collective Rapid Reaction Forces of the CSTO, "Zainetdinov said.

"With a high degree of probability, I can assume that in this way the  CSTO is trying to demonstrate to the West its own capability, as well  as the fact that Armenia is an inseparable part of it. In other  words, in this way, the CSTO seeks to finally clarify to the West  that Armenia's military problems, its security should be resolved  exclusively within its framework, "he stressed.

According to Ghevondyan, in the current processes around Armenia and  Azerbaijan, all external interested players are trying to realize  their own interests to the maximum. And in response to the West's  desire to build up activity in Armenia through France, Russia, in  this case through the CSTO, is trying to maintain its position as the  main player in Armenia. The political scientist sees the essence and  general context of what is happening in this process.  Answering the  question whether the CSTO exercises are not an attempt to demonstrate  force to Azerbaijan, whose Armed Forces are still on the territory of  the CSTO member country Armenia, the political scientist noted that  such a demarche should not be expected from the Organization. 

In this light, he referred to the recent statement of the long-term  CSTO Secretary General Nikolai Bordyuzha, who actually ruled out the  full involvement of the Organization in relation to the post-Soviet  countries. In this light, according to his estimates,  "Grom" in  Armenia will concern Azerbaijan and its aggressive actions towards  Armenia to a minimum.  "Taking into account the above, it seems  important to think about what, in fact, the interests of Armenia  require in this situation. In particular, to what extent does the  CSTO "Grom" correspond to these interests on our territory and  whether it meets the already voiced expectations of Yerevan from this  organization. I think that all this should lead to a clarification of  the interests of Armenia in this particular case between the  expectations from the CSTO and from the collective West, "the  political scientist summed up.