MINSK: Kremlin regrets the absence of Armenian representatives at the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) summit in Minsk, Kremli...
MINSK: Kremlin regrets the absence of Armenian representatives at the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) summit in Minsk, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in a TV interview.
"We can express regret in this regard. The CSTO continues its work," the Kremlin representative said in an interview with Pavel Zarubin, a journalist of the Rossiya-1 TV channel.
Peskov noted that the agenda of the summit included the "so-called Armenian factor" and an exchange of views on this issue.
"Of course, the CSTO is interested in Armenia continuing its participation. We hope that Armenia does not change the direction of its foreign policy, Armenia remains our ally, our strategic partner both bilaterally and in terms of interaction in multilateral formats. We will continue with them talk," the press secretary concluded.
The CSTO summit in Minsk took place amid deteriorating relations between the organization and Armenia. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan previously accused the CSTO of failing to provide assistance to Yerevan during clashes with Baku in May 2021 and September 2022. In this context Yerevan asked the CSTO to remove the issue of assistance to the country from the agenda. Pashinyan personally informed the leader of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko that he did not intend to go to Minsk. The heads of the Foreign Ministry and the Ministry of Defense of Armenia did not attend the CSTO events before the summit. Speaker of the Armenian Parliament Alen Simonyan said that he will not participate in the meeting of the CSTO Parliamentary Assembly in December. Previously, Armenia recalled its ambassador to the CSTO and did not appoint a new one. However, Yerevan declares that they are not going to withdraw from the CSTO.
-News Feed
COMMENTS