Armenia says won't host CSTO military drills this year
Armenia will not host the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) military drills this year, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said Tuesday.
MEHR: Armenia will not host the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) military drills this year, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said Tuesday.
Speaking to reporters, Pashinyan said he saw no reason for the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) to stage military drills in Armenia this year.
"These exercises will not take place," he told reporters.
"Armenia does not believe it is expedient to conduct CSTO exercises in the republic this year."
Pashinyan claimed the organization had refused to condemn Azerbaijan, which fought a six-week war with Armenia to control the majority-Armenian region of Nagorno-Karabakh in 2020.
The conflict claimed more than 6,500 lives and ended with a Russian-brokered truce that saw Yerevan cede territories it had controlled for decades and Moscow send peacekeepers to Karabakh.
Despite the end of the large-scale fighting, tensions over their borders persist.
In May 2021, Armenia accused Azerbaijan of violating its territorial integrity and moving forces into its territory.
Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Tuesday that the CSTO will clarify the details of the position of Armenia, who stated it would not hold CSTO military exercises in 2023, adding that Moscow will continue the dialogue with Yerevan on complicated issues.
"This is a rather new statement from the Armenian Prime Minister; I believe the CSTO colleagues will stay in contact, will clarify the details of Armenia’s position," the spokesman said, commenting on Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s statement that Armenia will not host CSTO exercise in 2023.
"In any case, Armenia is our very close ally, and we will continue the dialogue, including the issues that are very complicated at the moment," Peskov assured.
