Yerevan hosted today the sitting of the National Security Council Secretaries of CSTO member states, chaired by Armen Gevorgyan, Secretary of the Armenian National Security Council.
Considering that the meeting is taking place at a difficult time for Armenia and the region, Armen Gevorgyan first referred to the large-scale military actions unleashed by Azerbaijan against Nagorno Karabakh this April.
“The people of Nagorno Karabakh faced direct aggression on the part of Azerbaijan. This became a serious challenge to the region, the security and stability in the South Caucasus, and resulted in gross violations of the ceasefire regime,” he noted.
“Armenia, as a guarantor of security of the people of Nagorno Karabakh, cannot just stand and look at such actions of Azerbaijan,” Armen Gevorgyan noted, stressing that “the CSTO was created to solve issues collectively, to curb aggression against member-states.”
The Secretary noted that events were taking place in the Caucasus region of the CSTO and added that the Armenian public expects greater unity from CSTO member states.
“Undoubtedly, any destabilization at the border of a CSTO member state, especially a military clash, is a threat to the security of that country,” CSTO Secretary General Nikolay Bordyuzha told reporters after the sitting, commenting on whether the organization was preparing to take any step to ease the tension after the four-day war.
“Naturally, we do not ignore such situations. This applies to both the Caucasus and Central Asia, Bordyuzha assured.
“The active involvement of the Russian President, Prime Minister and Foreign Minister in the settlement of the situation is nothing but a stance of a CSTO partner. The CSTO is not only about the Secretariat and the Secretary General, it’s a union of six states and in this period the heads of practically all CSTO member states have tried to influence the situation, to help cease the military actions and return the parties to the negotiating table. In my opinion, this is also a result of CSTO activity. We should look at the CSTO from this perspective, not from the perspective of the use of force or the army,” the Secretary General said.
The parliaments of Russia and Armenia are considering a draft agreement on the creation of a joint air defense system, Nikolai Bordyuzha said.
Russia has already created joint air defense systems with Belarus and Kazakhstan, the CSTO head noted.
“It is being considered at the level of legislative bodies of both countries,” Bordyuzha said at a press conference in the Armenian capital of Yerevan.
