Kremlin: CSTO to clarify details of Armenia’s refusal to conduct organization exercises in 2023
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Representatives of the Collective Security Treaty Organization will study the details of Armenia’s refusal to conduct CSTO exercises on its territory this year, press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
“This is a fairly new statement by the Prime Minister of Armenia. I think that the CSTO colleagues will be in touch, they will clarify the details of Armenia’s position. In any case, Armenia is our very close ally,” he said.
Moscow and Yerevan will continue the dialogue, including on issues that are now “very complex,” Peskov added.
Earlier today, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that the Ministry of Defense of the Republic considered “in the current situation” it is inappropriate to conduct CSTO exercises in the country.
On January 1, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation announced that nine joint exercises were planned in 2023 with the participation of units of the national armies of foreign states. In particular, a joint exercise of the CSTO peacekeeping contingents “Indestructible Brotherhood – 2023” was to be held on the territory of Armenia.
On December 12, 2022, for the second time since the beginning of the month, Azerbaijan blocked the Stepanakert-Goris highway in the Lachin corridor, the only transport artery connecting the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) and Armenia.
On December 22, Pashinyan stated that the Russian peacekeeping mission does not fulfill their obligations in Nagorno-Karabakh according to the statement of November 9, 2020. However, the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova and the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov did not agree with the words of the Prime Minister of Armenia. The Russian authorities said that the peacekeepers are doing everything possible to stabilize the situation.
After that, Yerevan refused from participation in the meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Armenia, Russia and Azerbaijan scheduled for December 23 in Moscow. And Secretary of the Security Council of the Republic Armen Grigoryan called on the UN, the OSCE and the OSCE Minsk Group to send a mission to the Lachin corridor.
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