ArmInfo.Yerevan's demand from the CSTO was to provide military and military- political assistance to Armenia, but so far it has not been fulfilled, Secretary of the Security Council Armen Grigoryan said in a conversation with RFE/RL's Armenian Service.
In particular, he noted that only the fact that the CSTO has not yet properly taken appropriate actions for the Azeri troops to completely leave the sovereign territory of Armenia means that Yerevan's expectations were not met, and only in this case our expectations could be met, he said.
"During the recent developments in Kazakhstan, I expressed hope that CSTO mechanisms will finally work, that a precedent will be set. Naturally, there was such hope, and it is natural that such hope no longer exists. We only expected steps from the CSTO, concrete steps that we can see and make sure. And this is not only about the introduction of collective forces; there are many tools, starting from military-political ones, as well as diplomatic measures, economic measures. Of course, the CSTO does not have economic tools, but there are military-political tools, and this issue can be resolved with them," Grigoryan said. Answering the question about if the CSTO does not take any action, what steps will Yerevan take, especially since there are already calls to leave this organization, Grigoryan noted that it is the CSTO, rather than Armenia, should think about it. Grigoryan did not rule out the resumption of hostilities, as Azerbaijan continues to make bellicose statements and also tries to maintain tension on the border. "Our assessment is that Azerbaijan does not give up its aspirations towards the sovereign territories of Armenia and is trying to put pressure on Armenia through aggression," the head of the Security Council said. He noted the immutability of the demand to Baku for the withdrawal of troops from the sovereign territory of Armenia. "When we say that they must leave, we mean that the occupation of the sovereign territory of Armenia by the invasion that began on May 12 last year must be abolished," he said. He stressed that Yerevan does not have such confidence that the ceasefire will be long-term, and because in general, although tripartite agreements were signed, Azerbaijan continued to violate all these documents. He stressed that there were no agreements on the timing of the ceasefire, but Baku continues to take steps in the logic of military escalation.