If Armenia`s borders are "red line" for CSTO, let them demonstrate it  - Pashinyan

ArmInfo.The political position towards the Collective Security Treaty Organization should  not be confused with legal processes. Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan stated at a press conference on March 12.

He noted that currently relations between Yerevan and the CSTO are  frozen. This means that Armenia does not take part in meetings of the  Organization and its statutory bodies; Yerevan does not have its  representative in the CSTO. "Why doesn't Armenia use its quota to  fill the post of Deputy Secretary General of the Organization, or  doesn't express its opinion on the documents in circulation? And in  general, how fair and correct is Yerevan's position towards the CSTO?  The answers to all these questions lie in just one thing: We demand  and ask our partners in the Organization to answer just one question:  where is the CSTO zone of responsibility in Armenia," Pashinyan  emphasized.

He added that Yerevan did not create problems for the CSTO on any  issue. All the problems arose when this question was raised by the  Armenian side, to which there is still no answer. Moreover, the Prime  Minister continued, the question was raised for a reason. "Earlier,  clear assurances were received from both the Organization and the  Russian Federation, which did not give rise to doubts or  misinterpretations, that the sovereign territory of Armenia is a "red  line" for the Russian Federation and the CSTO," said the head of the  Armenian government.

He recalled that during the May developments of 2021, neither the  CSTO charter nor its other documents recorded the corresponding  steps. But even then Yerevan did not create any problems for the  Organization.  But after the developments of November 2021 and  September 2022, the Armenian side began to somewhat doubt the  effectiveness of the CSTO. When the CSTO expressed its intentions to  send peacekeepers to the borders of Armenia, the Armenian side  immediately raised the question that the peacekeepers are a neutral  party, meanwhile the CSTO is an organization founded by Armenia as  well. "But if the borders of Armenia are a "red line" for the CSTO,  demonstrate this, as well as demonstrate where exactly are the  borders of the sovereign territory of Armenia. But no answer was  received," the RA Prime Minister noted, adding that today this issue  is being discussed on the negotiating table.