Simonyan States Conditions for Armenia's Change of Stance on CSTO

Yerevan will only change its stance towards the CSTO after the organization declares the presence of Azerbaijani armed forces in Armenia's sovereign territory and demands their withdrawal. This was stated by the President of the National Assembly, Alen Simonyan, during a briefing with reporters.

According to him, as long as such a stance has not been expressed by the other member countries of the organization, Armenia will consider that the CSTO is not functioning. At the same time, Yerevan does not require Belarusian or Kazakh soldiers to come and expel Azerbaijanis from Armenian territory; the Armenian side simply seeks a political statement.

Simonyan assured that Armenia does not intend to obstruct the activities of the CSTO in any way. Addressing the visit of CSTO Secretary General Imangali Tasmagambetov to Armenia and the possibility of signing the package of decisions made at the summit in Minsk, Simonyan stated that he is not familiar with the document.

He declared that if the documents contradict Armenia's interests, they will not be signed. Simonyan mentioned that he personally knows the CSTO Secretary General, describing him as quite an interesting and experienced individual.

It should be noted that the Prime Minister of Armenia did not participate in the summit; however, the CSTO Secretary General arrived in Armenia yesterday and brought with him the documents adopted at the summit held in Minsk in November. He has already conducted negotiations with Armenia's Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan.

Simonyan also indicated that he is not aware if Nikol Pashinyan will go to St. Petersburg at the end of December for the informal summit of the EAEU and CIS.