Monday, November 27 2023 12:58

ArmInfo.Armenia has been and remains an ally of the Collective Security Treaty Organization  (CSTO), there is no point in drawing categorical conclusions from Yerevan's absence at the session in Minsk. CSTO Secretary General Imangali Tasmagambetov stated to TASS.

"In my opinion, it makes no sense to draw any categorical conclusions  from this situation. Armenia has been and remains our ally. I think,  that sums it up," he added.

"As far as the [CSTO] Secretariat is aware, the reasons for the  absence of the Armenian delegation were of a technical nature. In any  case, this is the decision of an independent and sovereign state,  which no other state or organization can influence. The CSTO respects  the decision of the Republic of Armenia as a full member of the  organization," the CSTO Secretary General said.

Armenia did not take part at a high level in the work of the CSTO  statutory bodies in Minsk on November 23.

On November 21, it became known that the heads of the Foreign  Ministry and the Ministry of Defense of Armenia were not  participating in CSTO events, and on November 14, Armenian Prime  Minister Nikol Pashinyan notified the Belarusian side that he would  not be able to take part in the CSTO summit in Minsk.  However,  Pashinyan assured that Armenia, by its refusal to participate in CSTO  events, does not prepare the ground for leaving the organization.