NATO has been and will always remain Armenia’s partner, Armenian Deputy Defense Minister has said.
“We are a full member of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), which is the main guarantor of our security,” Deputy Defense Minister Artak Zakharyan told reporters on the sidelines of a conference in Yerevan.
He advised not to divide all other cooperation issues into “black and white” and added that “Armenia’s military-political diplomacy fully complies with the country’s foreign policy.”
The comments come in the wake of the announcement by the Georgian side that Armenia had refused to participate in NATO drills that kicked off in Georgia today.
To disperse the various speculations about the causes of the decision, Deputy DM Artak Zakaryan said “Armenia had never confirmed it would participate in the exercises.”
“We initially plan our participation in this or that event, but the official confirmation comes close to the date of the event. Armenia had never confirmed its participation. Therefore, it has not refused to participate,” Zakharyan said.
He assured that “Armenia is losing nothing by not participating the drills.”
The Deputy DM added that relevant departments of the Ministry of Defense are checking the sources of the Georgian side’s information and will provide further comments, if necessary.
