Monday, June 5 2023 11:25

ArmInfo.In an interview with Armenia's Public TV, Secretary of Armenia's Security Council Armen  Grigoryan said he will visit Minsk next week to participate in a meeting of the Secretaries of the CSTO Security Councils. 

As to whether the issue of Russian arms sales to Armenia was  discussed during his latest visit to Russia, Mr Grigoryan said the  issue was not raised as no bilateral meetings with the Russian  counterpart were on the agenda.  

"If bilateral meetings take place in Minsk, we will discuss bilateral  agenda. But given the reality, the Russian-Ukrainian war, the  potential for serving the war, which is not so great to export arms,  we see a solution in finding alternatives. We have embarked on this  way. We are negotiating arms purchase with many countries, and we  have achieved results with some of them," Mr Grigoryan said. 

Armenia looks for alternatives until the issue of arms supplies from  Russia is settled, he said. 

As what specific issues Armenia's membership in the Collective  Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) solves, Mr Grigoryan said that  formerly the country's membership somewhat limited the country's  possibilities for cooperating with other partners in the security  field.

"At present, our membership in the CSTO does not for the most part  limit our cooperation with other partners, though it creates some  problems. We are also actively cooperating with our western partners  to strengthen our security system, and we will continue this work,"  Mr Grigoryan said. He finds it difficult to say what specific issues  Armenia's membership in the CSTO solves, as the organization has not  supported Armenia in any way during three large-scale attacks against  Armenia's sovereignty since 2020.  

The CSTO offered its assistance only after Armenia found an  alternative, an EU monitoring mission. Mr Grigoryan does not regard  as serious the CSTO's proposal to send an observer mission to  Armenia. 

He also evaded the question as to whether Armenia has been offered  membership in another military alliance. One of the key factors of  strengthening security is enhancing its own potential, and Yerevan is  actively working at this. Armenia is not looking for security  alternatives, but is focused on strengthening its own security,  including by pushing ahead with the peace agenda.

"We also see strengthening our security in bilateral formats. The  Armenia-USA relations, and Armenia's relations with a number of EU  member-states, as well as multifaceted relations with India, are  intensively developing. We have relations with pour neighbors as  well," Mr Grigoryan said.