Armenia will remain in CSTO in any case, says organization’s ex-press secretary

Former Press Secretary of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) Vladimir Zainetdinov commented to Alpha News on the prospect of Armenia’s further participation in the CSTO.

“The latest session of the Collective Security Treaty Organization has shown that there are problems. Armenia does not hide them. And [President of Belarus] Lukashenko said that there are problems, but it is better to solve them at the negotiating table rather than make demarches, which Armenia has shown. At the same time, as far as I know, Armenia participates in all CSTO affairs, and representatives are present at the permanent council, although there is no permanent representative, and all documents are sent to Armenia. The CSTO Secretary General said that he will soon go to Yerevan with a set of signed papers in the full hope that Armenia will join and sign them too. If you look at the list of these documents, you will see that they do not include the disagreements that were discussed. These documents are different every time, but in many ways, they are similar from year to year. Armenia has always participated before, so the CSTO Secretary General will report to Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan about these signed documents. The CSTO Secretary General stated that he believes that Armenia will sign them too,” the former CSTO press secretary noted.

According to Zainetdinov, Armenia will remain in the CSTO in any case.

“Armenia is a member of the CSTO. I believe the organization has fulfilled all the obligations corresponding to the documents in relation to Armenia, although in Armenia there are many opinions on this. Still, the documents say that the CSTO has fulfilled and will continue to fulfill all obligations towards its countries,” Zainetdinov concluded.