99 Percent of Military Operations Happened De Jure Outside CSTO Jurisdiction: Prime Minister

During the war, Armenia did not appeal to the CSTO because 99 percent of military operations took place de jure outside the jurisdiction of the organization. This was stated by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan during a Q&A session with government officials in the National Assembly, responding to an inquiry from independent MP Sergey Bagratyan.

“The biggest fundamental problem of the security of the Third Republic, which we have not yet recognized, is that the cornerstone and architecture of our security system has been tied to the CSTO, but our primary security challenge clearly existed outside the legal territory of the CSTO. And this reality has not been documented until now,” said Pashinyan.

Responding to the question directed to the government about why they did not appeal to the CSTO regarding support in the war in Nagorno-Karabakh, the Prime Minister, not wanting to present many details, stated, “There is a simple reason; 99 percent of military operations took place de jure outside the jurisdiction of the CSTO.”

Commenting on relations with Russia, Pashinyan assured that security cooperation with the Russian Federation is at the most intense and highest level. “And regarding ensuring our country's security, we not only plan actions but have already conducted actions. The concrete manifestations of those actions can already be seen in the Syunik province,” Pashinyan noted, adding that the focus has been aligned with the jurisdiction of CSTO actions to ensure security.

The deepening of Armenian-Russian cooperation and the military-political alliance is among the issues on the government's agenda. He assured that there is a corresponding desire and attitude from Russia as well.