BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 22. The decision of the Armenian leadership not to participate in the joint meeting of the CSTO (Collective Security Treaty Organization) is regrettable, the Spokesperson for the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Maria Zakharova said during a weekly briefing, Trend reports.
"It does not serve the interests of the Armenian people and will not assist to the strengthening of this friendly country's security and stability. At the same time, as we understand it, Armenian counterparts do not seek to obstruct the operation of the organization's statutory bodies or hamper the implementation of already agreed-upon statutory documents," she added. "In essence, this opens the door for Yerevan to participate in future work." Hopefully, the Armenian counterparts will take advantage of this opportunity soon."
"Russia believes the CSTO will play an important role in maintaining regional stability in the South Caucasus", the official emphasized.
"The deployment of a CSTO monitoring mission on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, the decision on which is still on the table, would be a significant factor in ensuring the security of Armenia, unlike the EU mission, which continues to demonstrate its complete ineffectiveness and perform tasks that are far from the declared ones," she added.
On November 14, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, during a phone call with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, declared his decision not to partake in the CSTO on November 23.
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