Armenian Officials Criticize CSTO Leader for Rejecting Yerevan’s Appeal – Asbarez.com

Senior Armenian officials have criticized the secretary general of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) for saying that the Russian-led defense alliance must not intervene in a continuing military standoff on Armenia’s border with Azerbaijan.

Armenia appealed to the CSTO for help after Azerbaijani troops reportedly crossed several sections of the border and advanced a few kilometers into Armenian territory on May 12-14. It asked the alliance of six ex-Soviet states to invoke Article 2 of its founding treaty which requires the CSTO to discuss a collective response to grave security threats facing its member states.

The foreign ministers of Armenia, Russia, and four other CSTO member states discussed the border dispute when they met in Tajikistan later in May. They expressed concern over the tensions but did not issue joint statements in support of Armenia.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan chided the bloc afterwards for not publicly siding with his country. He warned that the Armenian government could turn to the UN Security Council “if it turns out that the instruments of the CSTO or the treaty on the joint Russian-Armenian military contingent are not enough to resolve this problem.”

Yerevan has not taken such action despite Baku’s continuing refusal to withdraw Azerbaijani troops from the contested border sections.