Stanislav Zas does not agree: CSTO does not turn away from Armenia

ArmInfo.The CSTO is not going to leave Armenia. CSTO Secretary General Stanislav Zas stated this during the Moscow - Astana - Bishkek - Yerevan - Minsk video bridge in response to a question about the possibility of the  Organization leaving Armenia.

"Of course not. The developments that were held this year testify to  this. The heads of state met three times and discussed the situation  on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. A CSTO mission was sent to the  border to critical areas. A draft decision was developed on measures  to provide assistance to Armenia All the necessary steps were taken  by the CSTO in this situation," the Secretary General assured,  recalling that he himself was part of the mission.

He admitted that during his trip he also heard accusations from  Armenian officials why they didn't come and help de-occupy the  occupied territories.  "But, one must understand that the  consequences of such ill-conceived steps are up to the unleashing of  a regional war with the participation of several states," Zas said.   At the same time, the Secretary General expressed his conviction that  the decisions proposed by the CSTO following the results of the  monitoring mission were balanced and adequate.  "Therefore, I do not  think that the CSTO is somehow trying to turn away from Armenia. On  the contrary, when there was a need to discuss the situation, the  heads of state immediately gathered and discussed it," he said.

In response to ArmInfo's question whether the CSTO plans to send a mission to Armenia, Zas reminded that, in fact, that was proposed by oneof the two points of the document, which was not agreed upon at the Yerevan summit.

"As for the mission, one of the points of the proposals for  assistance was the sending of the mission to the border. The  composition, terms, (2 months), tasks and mandate were outlined. The  main purpose of the mission is to study the situation on the ground  and present proposals for immediate preparatory work. They remain in  force and if Armenia considers it necessary to accept on all 6 or  separate points, they can be implemented quite quickly. For my part,  I think that it would be useful in this situation. I spoke about this  then, at the meeting of heads of state, and I adhere to this position  now. But this, of course, is for Armenia to decide," Zas concluded.  

It should be noted that after the Azerbaijani large-scale military  aggression against the sovereign territory of Armenia on September  13-14, official Yerevan turned to Russia, the CSTO and the UN  Security Council for military assistance. In order to assess the  situation, the CSTO sent a mission to Armenia, which was entrusted  with the function of assessing the situation and developing a set of  measures to provide assistance. Later, the Russian side announced  that the CSTO was ready to send a monitoring mission to the border if  the CSTO CSC approved this measure. Yerevan, however, stated that it  expects a targeted political assessment of the occupation of Armenian  territories from the CSTO.  

On November 23, a meeting of the CSTO CSC was held in Yerevan, at  which a decision was to be made on rendering assistance to Armenia.  However, the Prime Minister of Armenia refused to sign the draft on  "Declaration of the Collective Security Council of the CSTO and on  joint measures to provide assistance to the Republic of Armenia."  "The lack of a clear political assessment of the situation and  failure to make the above-mentioned decision may mean not only CSTO's  refusal to implement alliance obligations, but also be interpreted by  Azerbaijan as CSTO's green light for further aggression against  Armenia. And this contradicts not only the letter, but also the  spirit and nature of the fundamental documents of the CSTO," he said  during a speech at a meeting of the CSTO CSC in Yerevan, adding that  he is not ready to sign the document in this form.