Armenian authorities criticise Russia and CSTO - disillusionment with ally?
Criticism of CSTO by Armenian authorities
After the refusal of the Russian military bloc CSTO to help Armenia in May 2021, when the country’s authorities for the first time announced the invasion of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces into its sovereign territory, the question of the effectiveness of the organization had already arisen. Yet they tried to avoid talk of withdrawing from the Collective Security Treaty Organization. On the contrary, the country’s leadership has repeatedly suggested that, perhaps, “the CSTO is leaving Armenia.”
The “Caucasian Knot” has prepared a report on what happened in recent years, how Armenia reacted to the inaction of Russia and its allies in the CSTO military bloc, acting under its leadership. What follows are excerpts.
- “Russia’s military presence does not guarantee the security of Armenia” – Pashinyan
- “Staying with Russia is a greater risk for Armenia than alliance with the US.” Opinion
- Mirzoyan-Lavrov meeting in Moscow
“Yerevan expected military assistance from the CSTO, but did not receive it”
Nikol Pashinyan accused the CSTO of not properly responding to the actions of the Azerbaijani military in the Sotk-Khoznavar sector in May 2021.
On May 27, on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border in the Sotk-Khoznavar section, six Armenian soldiers were taken prisoner while performing engineering work. Acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan regarded this as a kidnapping, since the soldiers were on their territory. Since May 12 the Azerbaijani armed forces have advanced several kilometers deep into the sovereign territory of Armenia and still have not retreated, despite Armenia’s demands.
“The way the CSTO reacted to what happened was a failure for the organization itself. Contrary to existing procedures, the CSTO has not yet decided to conduct monitoring at the site, justifying the long-standing fears of the Armenian public that an organization important for the security of Armenia will not do anything at the right time,” Pashinyan said in the spring of 2022.
Armenian Security Council Secretary Armen Grigoryan stated in September 2022 that Yerevan expects “military and military-political assistance” from the CSTO, but is not receiving it. According to Grigoryan, Armenia needs support from the CSTO to protect its own sovereignty and withdraw the Azerbaijani Armed Forces from Armenian territory. “This was our demand to the CSTO, and it has not yet been fulfilled. Naturally, this does not satisfy us,” Grigoryan said.
If Russia and other allies do not begin to fulfill their obligations, Armenia may withdraw from the CSTO, Pashinyan said in September 2022. “To put it differently: there are fears that Armenia will leave the CSTO, and my answer was that there are fears that the CSTO will leave Armenia. This is not a play on words,” Pashinyan said.
In September 2022 Pashinyan accused the Kremlin of “speculating on facts” with respect to Armenia and voicing “excuses” instead of real actions.
According to Pashinyan, during the discussion of security issues in the CSTO, he received clear assurances that the Armenian border was a “red line” for the organization, but “it turned out that red lines exist only in words.”
“This is important not only for Armenia, but also for the CSTO. After all, if you say that there is no border between Armenia and Azerbaijan, then there is no CSTO, because the CSTO has a zone of responsibility, which is defined by borders. If there is no border, then there is no area of responsibility, if there is no area of responsibility, then there is no organization,” Pashinyan said.
Criticism of CSTO by Armenian authorities
“CSTO has nothing to do on the border of Armenia”
On November 23, 2022, Pashinyan refused to sign the declaration of the Collective Security Council (CSC) of the CSTO and the draft decision on assistance to Yerevan. The reason was a lack of a clear political position of the organization on the issue of Azerbaijan’s actions. At a CSTO summit, Pashinyan reiterated that, despite the guarantees of collective protection, Armenia was subjected to armed aggression by Baku.
“Over the past two years, Armenia has been subjected to aggression by Azerbaijan at least three times. It is depressing that Armenia’s membership in the CSTO did not deter Azerbaijan from aggressive actions and that, in fact, until today we have not been able to reach a decision on the CSTO’s reaction to this aggression. These facts cause great damage to the image of the CSTO both inside and outside our country,” Pashinyan said.
He added that he considers the lack of reaction of the CSTO to the actions of Azerbaijan the main failure of Armenia’s presence in this organization. He recalled that during mass protests in Kazakhstan in January 2022, it took the CSTO only one day to reach a decision on the deployment of troops, and this largely helped to extinguish the unrest and avoid a coup.
On November 27, 2022, the CSTO offered Armenia a set of support measures. After analyzing them, Pashinyan stated that
- they “do not contain specifics and political assessments” of the escalation of the conflict on the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan,
- without these assessments, the CSTO observers have nothing to do on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border.
“The aggression against the sovereign territory of Armenia from May 2021 to September 13, 2022 was doubly painful because our security allies left us alone, preferring to remain in the status of a passive observer or offering the status of an active observer as an alternative,” Pashinyan said.
According to him, Armenia expects two things from the CSTO — the definition of the CSTO’s area of responsibility and a clear assessment of Azerbaijan’s actions on the border with Armenia.
“We are offered assistance, including military-technical assistance. First, it is not clear what kind of assistance is being offered. In addition, to accept this assistance without clear assessments would mean accepting the status quo that exists on our borders. To accept the monitoring mission of the CSTO without clear assessments from the CSTO will mean fixation and resignation to the status quo,” Pashinyan concluded.
Criticism of CSTO by Armenian authorities
Criticism of Russian peacekeepers
In December 2022, at a meeting of the Armenian Cabinet of Ministers, Pashinyan criticized the Russian peacekeeping corps for failing to fulfill its obligations, as a result of which a long-term blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh became possible. “Of course, this is due to the actions of Azerbaijan, but this does not change the meaning. This is the key meaning of the presence of Russian peacekeepers – not to allow illegal actions and to keep the Lachin corridor under control,” he said.
At a meeting with Putin on December 27, 2022, Pashinyan again recalled the responsibility of Russian peacekeepers.
“The Lachin corridor has been blocked for almost 20 days. This is the area of responsibility of Russian peacekeepers in Nagorno-Karabakh. And I want to remind you that according to the tripartite statement of the presidents of the Russian Federation, Azerbaijan and the Prime Minister of Armenia, the Lachin corridor should be under the control of Russian peacekeepers. The Republic of Azerbaijan guaranteed the unhindered passage of passengers and cargo along the Lachin corridor. And now it turns out that the Lachin corridor is not under the control of Russian peacekeepers,” Pashinyan said.
Since December 12, 2022, Nagorno-Karabakh has been deprived of communication with the outside world due to the blocking of the Lachin corridor. Azerbaijani activists block the highway in the presence of Russian peacekeepers. 120,000 people have been living under blockade for more than three months, and food shortages have forced the authorities to introduce food stamps for basic necessities.
“If it turns out that Russia, for objective or subjective reasons, is unable to fulfill its obligations, it should apply to the UN Security Council either with a request to endow the Russian military contingent with an international mandate, or send a new multinational peacekeeping mission to Nagorno-Karabakh,” he said. his criticism of Pashinyan’s peacekeepers in January 2023.
“No one denies that the Russian peacekeepers today ensure the safety of the residents of Nagorno-Karabakh, but we also have facts when the Azerbaijanis violated the agreements in the area of responsibility of the peacekeepers, for example, in Parukh, but did not see any reaction from them. In the absence of a reaction, it turns out that the military presence of Russia not only does not guarantee the security of Armenia, but, on the contrary, creates threats to the security of Armenia,” the prime minister said.
Criticism of CSTO by Armenian authorities
Forcing Armenia to ally itself
On December 27, 2022, Secretary of the Security Council of Armenia Armen Grigoryan stated live on Public Television that Azerbaijan’s invasion of the sovereign territory of Armenia on September 13, 2022, as well as the closure of the Lachin corridor, fit into the framework of Russia’s pressure on Armenia.
According to Grigoryan, this is precisely the reason for the crisis in the Armenian-Russian relations, which has been clearly expressed in recent times. Grigoryan also for the first time confirmed the statements of some Armenian deputies that Russia is forcing Armenia to join the union state. Grigoryan stated that Armenia resists this desire of a strategic ally and receives a response in the form of military pressure.
Armenia’s refusal to host CSTO exercises
In January 2023, Nikol Pashinyan stated that Yerevan considers it inappropriate to hold CSTO exercises in Armenia. “The Ministry of Defense of Armenia has already informed the CSTO Joint Headquarters in writing that we consider it inappropriate to conduct exercises in Armenia in the current situation. These exercises in Armenia, at least this year, will not take place,” he said.
On March 13, 2023, Armenia refused to nominate a representative for the post of deputy head of the CSTO 15. On March 14 at a press conference, Pashinyan said that Armenia would agree to the appointment of its representative to the post of deputy secretary general of the CSTO if it was sure that this would strengthen its security. “We will agree that if this position does not come out that we are sending the wrong message to our people, if this will be another factor for security. If this does not happen, then we do not see the point in this position,” the prime minister said.
Commenting on the possibility of Armenia’s withdrawal from the CSTO, Pashinyan replied that the Armenian side would be guided by state interests in this decision. “As for the CSTO. I spoke publicly. It’s a matter of points of view. Can we say that Armenia will leave the CSTO? Perhaps the CSTO will leave Armenia? Or does this whole situation indicate that the CSTO intends to withdraw from Armenia? We are guided by the state interests of Armenia when clarifying, maintaining or changing our position on any issue,” Pashinyan said.
“When the CSTO Secretary General arrived in Armenia in 2022, he told me that the CSTO was concerned that Armenia would leave the organization. I said that this concern is out of place, but there is another concern that the CSTO may withdraw from Armenia. My assessment now is this: the CSTO, willingly or not, is leaving Armenia. And this worries us,” Pashinyan repeated his message.
Criticism of CSTO by Armenian authorities
On the crisis in relations with Russia
Armenian President Vahagn Khachaturian also talked about the problems in Armenian-Russian relations.
“Armenian-Russian relations are at a strategic level, and Russia is the guarantor of Armenia’s security, but, unfortunately, we have had problems lately, especially after the events of September 13, 2022. The September attack was made precisely on the territory of Armenia, Russia and the CSTO were supposed to provide military assistance to Armenia. Azerbaijan advanced nearly 10km in different places, and this was the case when both the CSTO members and Russia had to provide us with military assistance,” Khachaturian said.
According to him, in Yerevan Russia was also expected to take political actions at that time. “Neither one nor the other has happened yet. Of course, in fairness, it should be noted that Russia also participated in the negotiations on the cessation of hostilities, but US Secretary of State Blinken, French President Macron and the head of the EU Parliament Charles Michel also took an active part in them,” Khachaturian noted in January 2023.
On February 24, 2023, Armen Grigoryan called “non-recognition of the borders of Armenia by the CSTO” as a serious problem.
“As you know, the CSTO does not recognize the borders of Armenia, and there is a serious problem here, because if there is no border, there is no responsibility. We raised this issue and hope that at some point this issue will be resolved,” Grigoryan said.
He recalled that in accordance with the Almaty Declaration, which is taken as the basis for resolving the issue of delimitation and demarcation, the administrative borders of the former Soviet republics are accepted as interstate borders.
“And here we can clearly say that there is a border between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Perhaps a certain part is not demarcated, and we do not know where the line clearly runs, but it is a matter of a few meters. And the sovereign territory of Armenia with an area of 29,800 square meters. km is known. If there is a will, then this territory can be protected. But the lack of will makes it impossible to protect Armenia,” he added.
Criticism of CSTO by Armenian authorities
