ArmInfo. Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan does not agree with the opposition's assertion that the government of the republic has not implemented the program for 2021-2026, and therefore must resign.
Speaking on June 13 at the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia, the head of the Armenian Cabinet cited as an example the justifications of the opposition on the issue of Armenia's membership in the CSTO. He quoted an excerpt from the Cabinet's program, according to which "Armenia will continue its activities to actively involve itself in the structures of the CSTO, will continue to work on its contractual basis and improve the mechanisms for the use of the Organization's forces."
In diplomatic language, the prime minister continued, this indicates that there are questions about the mechanisms for the deployment and use of CSTO forces. This situation was recorded in the summer of 2021, when the Azerbaijani armed forces invaded the Sotk-Khoznavar section. Prior to this, Yerevan received assurances from the Organization that the borders of Armenia are a "red line" for it. But when on May 12, 2021, after the invasion of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces into the sovereign territory of Armenia, there was no corresponding response from the CSTO, the Armenian side questioned the effectiveness of this structure. Discussions and meetings were held on this issue at various levels, right up to the Organization's summit in Yerevan, but the problem was never resolved. For this reason, Yerevan has frozen its participation in the CSTO, and the next logical step should be the country's withdrawal from this structure. "When will this happen? We will decide whether it will be in a month, a year or three years. The country's authorities never said that they would remain in the CSTO, we talked about the presence of questions, to obtain answers to which the country was going to move on," he said.
Pashinyan added that one of the leaders of the CSTO recently stated that during the 44-day war, his country participated, believed and wanted Azerbaijan's victory. "And you want me to go to Belarus after this and discuss issues related to the CSTO with the president of this country?" - asked the RA Prime Minister, adding at the same time that Armenia will be forced to maintain its membership in the Eurasian Economic Union and the CIS for the time being. The Prime Minister stressed that he will not visit Belarus as long as Alexander Lukashenko is president there. Not a single Armenian government official will visit this country. The Prime Minister did not rule out a change in Yerevan's position regarding Minsk if the President of Belarus makes such an apology to the Armenian people that would be acceptable to the people.