The Ruling Party Is Not Discussing Leaving the CSTO: 'Hraparak'

The government is not currently discussing the issue of leaving the CSTO, despite claims from members of the ruling party that the regional military-political alliance has shown a lack of action in maintaining the territorial integrity and security of its member state. This was reported by the newspaper 'Hraparak'.

Representative of the ruling party, MP Sargis Khandanian, who heads the National Assembly's Foreign Relations Committee, reminded in an interview with the newspaper that the CSTO did not intervene when the issue of maintaining the sovereign territories of its member state, Armenia, arose.

Sargis Khandanian assured that 'the question of leaving the CSTO is not being discussed within the team at this moment', although he considers the work of the CSTO to be ineffective.

'Armenia appealed to the CSTO, but the alliance did not intervene and did not express a political position regarding the occupation of Armenia's sovereign territory. In this sense, I do not consider the work of the CSTO to be effective; if it were effective, it would have responded. As for membership, we have repeatedly stated that it seems the CSTO has withdrawn its presence from Armenia,' said the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee during the interview.

Armenia's Deputy Foreign Minister Paruir Hayrikyan did not wish to comment on the ongoing crossfire in Armenian-Russian diplomatic relations. He evaded the question of whether the Armenian leader's anti-Russian statements in Western forums negatively affect Armenian-Russian relations.

'That is not under my coordination, so I cannot provide detailed answers to that question; as for the CSTO, we have repeatedly stated our position regarding that body,' Hayrikyan noted in the interview.