ArmInfo.Official Yerevan considers inadvisable holding CSTO drills in Armenia this year "under the circumstances," Armenia's Premier Nikol Pashinyan stated at a news conference on January 10.
Earlier, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced that a joint exercise of the CSTO peacekeeping contingents "Indestructible Brotherhood-2023" will be held outside the Russian Federation on the territory of Armenia. It was noted that all the maneuvers would be peacekeeping and anti-terrorist in nature.
According to the prime minister, there is some misunderstanding on this score, since the Armenian defense minister has already informed the CSTO Joint Headquarters that the Armenian side does not consider it expedient to conduct exercises this year in Armenia. "These exercises, at least this year, will not take place," Pashinyan said.
According to him, in the process of formation of the Republic of Armenia, the conviction that Russia is the first guarantor, an ally of the security of the Republic of Armenia was a cornerstone. , he said.
As the prime minister noted, after the aggression in May 2021 on the Sotk-Khoznavar section, Yerevan expected specific actions from its partners, in particular, Russia. , said Nikol Pashinyan. According to him, Yerevan stated that it does not accept any other document without fixing this line.