CSTO keeps its doors open for Armenia, says military analyst

Speaking with Alpha News, Russian military analyst Alexey Leonkov commented on Armenia’s non-participation in the CSTO Council Session in Kazakhstan, which took place on November 28.

“The point is that the CSTO still keeps its doors open for Armenia and is ready to provide all the assistance if necessary. The session that took place in Astana was a major meeting, most of which took place behind closed doors. The CSTO countries have received the opportunity of a nuclear umbrella from Russia. Russia recently changed its nuclear doctrine, which indicated that it is ready to protect not only its own interests but also those of its allies and partners. Thus, the CSTO countries have received the opportunity to feel safer, given that external threats are growing.

Armenia, in this regard, practically does not react to these changes. I mean the leadership of Armenia. It is following the planned program, and I would not talk about any independent or reasonable decisions. Armenia is following the principle that it has outlined its national path, and this is the path of drifting towards the collective West, the NATO bloc, the EU, and so on. Although all objective reality shows that such drift leads to the loss of state independence and to the outbreak of armed conflicts with its closest neighbors,” Leonkov said.

According to Leonkov, cordiality towards Armenia is based on a brotherly attitude towards the Armenian people rather than the current authorities of Armenia.

“This favor is for those forces in Armenia who understand everything that is happening to see that they have a certain, as they say, light in the darkness. We understand that Armenia, with all its national pride, which the government expresses, reacts very painfully when Armenia is called a victim country, and this will not lead to anything good. Therefore, the doors are open.

Yes, we can tolerate some insults, some harsh words that the leaders of today’s Armenia utter. But we are not thinking about them. We are thinking about the people who live in Armenia, in Yerevan, and in other regions, and, of course, we are focusing primarily on the people. Because history shows that those governments that are taking a pro-American path in most cases do not express the opinion of the people. They are simply carrying out the program that they have to carry out for being brought to power,” the expert concluded.