Monday, August 9 2021 22:52

ArmInfo. At a meeting with CSTO Secretary General Stanislav Zas on August 9, Armenian Defense Minister Arshak Karapetyan stated with regret that he was expected in  Yerevan back in May, but he did not come. This was reported by the  press service of the RA Ministry of Defense.

"We were expecting your visit back in May. It was a rather tense  period for Armenia at that time, but, unfortunately, your visit did  not take place. Today, a stable and difficult situation has developed  near our borders. In May, the Azerbaijani Armed Forces invaded the  territory of Armenia in two directions. This worries us very much. We  stand for peace. In any case, we do not want tensions on our borders.  At the same time, we are not ready to put up with actions that may  lead to the violation of the state border of Armenia. We will  resolutely defend our territories. We, of course, strive to resolve  this issue peacefully, demonstrating our peacefulness. At the same  time, our patience is not unlimited either: in the absence of a  peaceful settlement of the situation on our borders, we reserve the  right to resolve the issue by force, "said the head of the RA defense  department.

Karapetyan also expressed regret that the mechanisms for making  decisions and responding to crisis situations in the CSTO do not meet  modern requirements for the development of the operational situation.   The RA Defense Minister also informed the Secretary General about the  conceptual approaches of the RA chairmanship in the CSTO, stressing  that among the priorities will be to increase the efficiency of the  organization's activities and improve it, as well as issues of  further development of the military component of the CSTO.

In turn, the CSTO Secretary General informed the RA Defense Minister  that joint meetings of the CSTO Foreign Affairs Committees, Defense  Ministers and the Committee of Secretaries of the Security Council  are scheduled for September 15 in Dushanbe, and on September 16 - the  Assembly of the Collective Security Council, where the chairmanship  of the Organization will pass to the Republic of Armenia.