What Decision Will Be Made Today at CSTO: 'Hraparak'

‘Hraparak’ newspaper writes: Ahead of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to Armenia, government-affiliated media outlets have, in the literal sense, organized a terror campaign, publicly voicing opinions of representatives from governmental and quasi-governmental circles that claim the CSTO has not fulfilled its obligations toward Armenia and failed to provide military and other support on September 13.

Meanwhile, under the guise of a pro-Western agenda, clients of the government are making statements about anti-Putin protests, hoping to extract a positive decision regarding Armenia from today’s upcoming session of the CSTO Collective Security Council in Yerevan.

It is important to remind that today’s CSTO meeting will discuss the fate of the request submitted by Armenia more than two months ago regarding the provision of joint assistance. However, judging by the statements from high-ranking Russian officials, Armenian expectations are unlikely to be met.

“In my opinion, the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict does not fall under the CSTO’s jurisdiction; each member state independently decides its stance on it,” stated Konstantin Kosachyov, Deputy Speaker of the Federation Council of Russia, in an interview with Arguments and Facts the day before the meeting, answering the question of whether the CSTO and Russia could provide Armenia with more proactive, primarily military assistance concerning the conflict with Azerbaijan.

As for what the CSTO charter says about such cases, the Russian official deemed it unnecessary to comment.

For more details, see today’s issue of the newspaper.