Armenia’s refusal to conduct exercises of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) on its territory in 2023 is a political demarche. On January 10, Denis Denisov, an expert at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, told Izvestia about this.
“We are once again witnessing a completely open demarche on the part of Armenia, which is trying in this way to contribute, at least in the public plane, to the activation of the role of the Russian Federation in the South Caucasus region. In particular, the situation related to the Lachin corridor is the reason here,” he said.
At the same time, the expert noted that Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan is well aware that in this way it is hardly possible to influence the position of Russia. At the same time, Pashinyan is aware that Moscow is “the only counterparty that is making efforts to resolve this situation.”
“Here we are faced with a fantastic story, as a state, to put it mildly, not strong economically, politically, located in a difficult geopolitical situation, is trying to influence the will of Russia in such clumsy ways,” Denisov said.
The political scientist added that the Russian Federation may perceive such steps with regret.
“This demonstrates, first of all, to the Russian Federation that in the current situation it is hardly possible to say that the Armenian regime and its leaders are friendly to Moscow,” Denisov concluded.
Earlier that day, Pashinyan said that the Armenian Defense Ministry had notified the CSTO joint headquarters in writing of the refusal. Yerevan stated that, based on the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh, it is not advisable to conduct exercises this year.
Press Secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov said that Armenia’s refusal to conduct the exercises is a new statement, Russia is going to clarify it. He added that Armenia is “a very close ally” and Moscow will continue the dialogue.
On January 1, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation reported that within the framework of international military cooperation this year it is planned to conduct joint exercises with units of the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation and units of the national armies of foreign states. Outside the country, it was planned to hold a joint exercise of the CSTO peacekeeping contingents “Indestructible Brotherhood – 2023” on the territory of Armenia.
The Collective Security Treaty Organization is a military-political alliance created by the CIS states to stabilize the situation in partner countries. The CSTO consists of six states: Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia and Tajikistan.
