Lavrov on Pashinyan's Statements About CSTO

The statements by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan that the CSTO abandoned Armenia in a difficult time do not correspond to reality. This was announced by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

“The statements that the CSTO has put Armenia in a predicament also do not correspond to reality,” said Lavrov. He reminded that when the CSTO sent its expert mission in response to Yerevan's request to study the situation on the ground, it returned and offered to deploy a peacekeeping mission of observers on Armenian territory along the border with Azerbaijan.

“In the autumn of 2022, just before the CSTO summit, we agreed word for word, down to the last punctuation mark, on the text of the mandate for CSTO peacekeepers on Armenian territory during a meeting of foreign ministers held in Yerevan. We were busy with this until late evening, and everyone confirmed that the document was ready. In the morning, it was presented for approval at the CSTO summit of heads of state. Everyone was in favor, but Nikol Vovaevich Pashinyan, as the chair of the meeting, said that the document did not satisfy Yerevan, as the CSTO had not made a sharp condemnation of Azerbaijan's actions,” Lavrov noted.

He also added that Russia is waiting for Yerevan to make a final decision regarding its participation in the CSTO, and they need to clarify their position.