The summit of the post-Soviet military alliance led by Russia, held this Thursday in Minsk (capital of Belarus), was going to address, among other issues, the improvement of its collective security system, the creation of a common air defense system and international conflicts. from the actuality. But the absence of one of the partners, Armenia, has left the other issues on the back burner. The Armenian Prime Minister, Nikol Pashinián, thus displays his discontent with the Kremlin over the Russian position in the long conflict with Azerbaijan, an issue that is distancing him from the Russian president, Vladimir Putin.
Pashinyan announced last week that he was not going to attend the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) meeting in Minsk. This was communicated in a telephone conversation to the Belarusian president, Alexander Lukashenko, who this year holds the presidency of the bloc.
Natalia Eismont, spokesperson for the Belarusian Presidency, assured that Lukashenko asked Pashinián “not to rush, not to make hasty decisions and to think carefully about future steps that could be aimed at disintegration,” according to the official Belta agency.
A few days later, Pashinian said in the Armenian Parliament that the organization refuses to “fix its area of ??responsibility in the republic” of Armenia. Under these conditions, he argued, if Yerevan participated in CSTO activities then he would be supporting the idea that “the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Armenia are in doubt.”
According to the Armenian leader, what his Government is doing is “giving time for reflection, both to us and to the CSTO,” according to the Tass agency. In this context, Yerevan has decided to diversify its relations with external actors in the field. of security.
Following the bombings on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border in September 2022, Armenia preferred a two-month European Union observation mission to the one proposed by the CSTO.
Yerevan has begun to strengthen political and military ties with the United States and the EU, which is not viewed favorably in Moscow.
Lukashenko denounced this Thursday in Minsk “the provocative nature” of the statements of “some partners”, and considered them “a gift” for the countries that oppose the strengthening of the CSTO.
Armenia’s distancing from the military alliance led by Russia began after the 2020 war between Armenia and Azerbaijan for control of the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave. The CSTO did not condemn the subsequent incursions of Azerbaijani troops into Armenian territory. Yerevan also expected military assistance from both the bloc and Russia, its main strategic ally. But that did not happen.
Although Armenia is part of the organization and Azerbaijan is not, neither Russia nor the other members of the bloc want to antagonize the Baku Government, since the majority maintains good relations with the president of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliev.
The border conflict of September 2022 marked another decisive moment of this estrangement. Two months later, Pashinyan refused to sign the final declaration of the CSTO summit due to a lack of support from the organization.
Last January, Armenia refused to host the CSTO Indestructible Brotherhood 2023 military exercises, despite the fact that Russia had already announced them.
However, in September Armenia and the United States carried out the Eagle Partner 2023 military exercises on the territory of the former Soviet republic of the Caucasus.
In May, Armenia even suggested that it would leave the CSTO if it concluded that it was a “powerless” structure. “If Armenia makes a decision on leaving the CSTO, this will take place after Armenia confirms that it was the CSTO that left Armenia,” Pashinyan said then.
The last straw was the military defeat against the Azerbaijani troops of the self-proclaimed republic of Nagorno-Karabakh, last September, which marked its disappearance.
Despite all the discrepancies, the Armenian Foreign Ministry denied that its country is going to leave the CSTO or that the military base that Russia maintains on its territory is going to be closed.
The Kremlin has regretted the absence of Armenia at the Minsk meetings, because these summits are “a very good occasion to exchange opinions, to compare notes,” said the spokesman for the Russian Presidency, Dimitri Peskov. This Thursday he assured that “the CSTO is interested in Armenia continuing to participate” and expressed his hope that Armenia “continues to be our ally, our strategic partner.”
The Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Maria Zakharova, said for her part that Pashinian’s decision will not favor Armenia. “Of course it is regrettable. We do not believe that it responds to the long-term interests of the Armenian people and that it will strengthen the security of that friendly country,” she said.
He also pointed out that the debates in Armenia about the possibility of leaving the CSTO are an attempt to “find blame” and blame others for their own decisions.
The Collective Security Treaty Organization includes six countries of the former Soviet Union: Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan. The alliance is based on the Collective Security Agreement signed in Tashkent (capital of Uzbekistan) in 1992. The main objective of the CSTO is to protect the participating countries from an external armed attack.
The Armenian Foreign Minister, Ararat Mirzoyan, and the Defense Minister, Surén Papikián, also did not attend Minsk. And the President of Parliament, Alen Simonián, has ruled out participating in other CSTO events that will be held in December in the Belarusian capital. It would not be practical “in the current situation,” he said.
