West seeking Armenia`s withdrawal from CSTO - Alexander Bortnikov

ArmInfo.In exchange for preferential arms supplies and security guarantees, the West is seeking to force the Armenian government to withdraw from the CSTO. As TASS reports, this was stated by the Director of the Russian FSB Alexander Bortnikov at the 55th meeting of the Council of Heads of Security Agencies and Special Services of the CIS countries. 

According to him, by persuading Yerevan to delay negotiations with  Baku, the West is trying to lead the process of the  Azerbaijani-Armenian settlement and achieve the deployment of its own  "peacekeeping" contingent in the region - de jure under the auspices  of the UN, and de facto NATO. However, given all the previous  experience of NATO mediation in various regions of the world, the  consolidation of the bloc in the South Caucasus will not contribute  to stability in the region. The head of the FSB emphasized that the  EU observation mission deployed in Armenia is conducting intelligence  activities against Russia. "The so- called independent civilian EU  observation mission is conducting intelligence activities in the  interests of a specific NATO country against Russia and our  partners," Bortnikov noted.

On October 2, at the Warsaw Security Forum, RA Foreign Minister  Ararat Mirzoyan said that Yerevan was calculating all the risks of  leaving the CSTO. According to him, stability is a priority, and the  process that may occur must be well calculated and managed. According  to him, we are talking about risk management.  He again touched upon  the issue of Armenia freezing its membership in the Organization and  assured that Yerevan would not return to its previous relations. "We  do not see ourselves in a military alliance that does not work," the  Armenian diplomat said, adding that there is a lot of disappointment  with Russia in Armenian society. According to him, "people saw that  we are not receiving help."

Note that Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said in an  interview with France24 at the end of February that the collective  security treaty with respect to Armenia was not implemented, and the  republic froze its participation in the CSTO. Later, he did not rule  out leaving the Organization altogether. Yerevan stopped paying  membership fees to the Organization and does not participate in any  CSTO events.