I Do Not Exclude That Armenia May Appeal to the CSTO Under Article 4: Rubinyan

The Chairman of the permanent committee on foreign relations of the National Assembly of Armenia, Ruben Rubinyan, does not rule out that Armenia may appeal to the CSTO under Article 4. He mentioned this during a conversation with journalists at the National Assembly.

Speaking about the thoughts expressed by the opposition regarding why allies should help if, for example, the Armenian side is not shooting, he drew attention to the following circumstances: “First of all, it is our allies who have called for not to escalate the situation and to try to resolve the issue through diplomatic and political means. Secondly, the formats we are involved in as allies have clearly defined articles regarding specific situations. We are not asking for help without any actions; rather, we are requesting based on specific documents and under specific articles. Moreover, we are referring to both the possibility of appeal under the second article of the CSTO treaty and a letter from the Prime Minister based on the Armenian-Russian bilateral agreement. We expect our allies to support us in resolving this matter. Considering the recent events, I do not rule out that we may resort to Article 4 as well, and not only that,” said the parliamentarian.

Speaking about the death of a serviceman caused by Azerbaijani fire the previous day, he noted that the incident is not an unfortunate accident, but one of the manifestations of Azerbaijani aggression. “Our stance is as follows: Azerbaijani soldiers must withdraw from the sovereign territory of Armenia. Armenia is trying and will try to resolve the issue primarily through political and diplomatic means, which does not mean that there cannot be other solutions if this does not happen,” Rubinyan said, referring to military solutions. He added that they expect Armenia's allies, who are bound by clearly regulated obligations, including military obligations, to support this process. “The current status quo is categorically unacceptable for us, but the operational situation in those areas is under the control of our soldiers,” Rubinyan stated, emphasizing that the issue must be resolved.