It should be made clear why Armenia had claims to the CSTO. It was not because of Nagorno-Karabakh. Not because of Azerbaijan's ethnic cleansing and military actions on the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. But [because of the actions] on the territory of Armenia. Our claims have arisen since May 2021, when the territory of Armenia was attacked, and positions were taken inside the territory of Armenia. After our request to our CSTO partners for assistance, we did not even wait for a formal response. The same is true with regard to Russia. Armenian Ambassador to the EU Tigran Balayan said in an interview with The Moscow Times.
"This is our main complaint towards the CSTO. It is not even able to make a statement, recording that Armenia's territorial integrity has been violated.
When we now hear that the CSTO is ready to send observers to Armenia's border, the question arises as to which border. Where is the border? Do the CSTO and Russia recognize Armenia, one of the fundamental members of this organization, as a border? So far, we have not heard about it either in public statements or behind closed doors.
When there were riots in Kazakhstan (January 2022), it took only a few minutes to reach a consensus on sending a military contingent to help the Kazakh government. I think even with great desire and even with not-so-great desire, consensus on an Azerbaijani attack on Armenia could have been reached, if not in a few hours, then in a few days. But since May 2021 and until now we have been treading on the ground.
When Armenia chaired the CSTO, all our actions were aimed at strengthening the organization and its prestige in the international arena. As Armenia's Ambassador to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in The Hague, I personally organized a joint statement of the CSTO countries within the framework of the OPCW Executive Council. It was Armenia's initiative. For the first time, we achieved that a CSTO representative was invited to the OPCW meeting. I am not talking about our initiatives in other international organizations, such as the OSCE and so on. And now it is doubly painful to see how the CSTO has abandoned us.
