Federation Council, State Duma comment on Armenian parliamentarians`  decision not to participate in CSTO PA in Moscow

ArmInfo. Russian senators regularly communicate with their Armenian partners directly, via  video channels, and through the embassy; there is no talk of freezing relations. This was announced by the head of the international committee of the Federation Council, Grigory Karasin, commenting on the information that the parliamentary delegation of Armenia will not participate in the upcoming meeting of the CSTO Parliamentary  Assembly in Moscow on December 19.

When asked by RIA Novosti whether there are bilateral relations  between the legislators of Russia and Armenia, he said in particular:  "Of course, there are very active relations, not only directly, but  also through video channels, and regularly with embassies."

In response to a clarifying whether there was any talk of a possible  freeze in relations between parliamentarians, the Russian senator  emphasized that "we are not talking about this and we are not  thinking about it." "We are thinking about ensuring that (our)  relations are filled with real content and are active," the senator  noted.

At the same time, Karasin emphasized that the decisions of the  Armenian delegation not to come to the CSTO PA are perceived "with a  sense of regret." "At the same time, Yerevan's position is also taken  into account, and that the country remains a member of the CSTO. But  such a decision is naturally regrettable.  We would like them to  participate," the Russian legislator concluded.

In turn, State Duma member, Chairman of the CSTO PA Standing  Committee on Defense and Security Issues Anatoly Vyborny emphasized  that representatives of Armenia supported all the decisions made by  the Parliamentary Assembly of the Collective Security Treaty  Organization, noting that  he does not know any initiatives of the  Armenian side that were discussed but not adopted.

"I would like to draw attention to the fact that representatives of  Armenia have always supported all the decisions that we made,"  Vyborny said. According to him, the CSTO PA is an important  international platform, which, on the one hand, considers defense and  security issues as single and indivisible categories, and, secondly,  that all decisions there, without exception, are made by consensus,  "when all sides have a common understanding : of course, it will  happen."

Vyborny said that if one side or another comes up with an initiative,  it is studied and a decision is made, "but lately there have been no  statements or initiatives from our colleagues from Armenia that we  discussed, and we did not accept them - I have not I know".  "Therefore, apparently, there is some kind of misunderstanding here,  maybe this was said out of emotion or due to the problems within the  state today," he suggested.

Vyborny noted that it is not entirely clear what is being said when  statements are made that "the CSTO allegedly does not fulfill any  obligations." "Maybe this is due to a misunderstanding among some  people, political figures," he said.

As previously reported by Spokesperson of the Speaker of the Armenian  Parliament, Tsovinar Khachatryan, the Armenian delegation will not  participate in the upcoming meeting of the CSTO PA in Moscow on  December 19. Speaker of the National Assembly of Armenia Alen  Simonyan told reporters on November 22 that he would not go to the  CSTO meeting in December, calling his participation inappropriate in  the current situation. In particular, he stated that the organization  "does not fulfill its obligations to Armenia." At the same time, the  speaker assured that Yerevan's relations with the CSTO are not  frozen, and there is no decision on its withdrawal from the  organization.