Pashinyan: Armenia will continue active support to CSTO's capacity building

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan pledged Armenia's continued proactive support to the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) as he addressed the high-level summit of the member states representing the Russia-led interstate military alliance.

In his speech at the Collective Security Council's session in Bishkek (Turkmenistan), the Armenian leader also promised state efforts towards raising the organization's international reputation.

Highlighting the existing great potential for developing cooperation among the member states, Pashinyan stressed the role of stronger ties especially in the HighTech sector as a modern promising trend.

"I have the pleasure to state today that we have been able to reach a final agreement over the appointment of a secretary general. I am confident that Stanislav Zas' exprerience will be important in this responsible position," he said, thanking the organization's leadership for completing the renewal of the normative-legal database.

The prime minister later briefed the participants on the security-related concerns over Armenia and the region, elaborating on the situation in the Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) conflict settlement efforts.

Ruling out any alternative to a peaceful deal, the chief of Armenia's cabinet expressed his firm belief that bellicose ambitions are "absolutely unpromising and not conductive to a negotiated settlement”.

"I think a new escalation will produce its devastating consequences in not only the South Caucasus region but also beyond its borders. Azerbaijan, which is in a war situation, may become a springboard for Islamist extremists who, having lost their influence in Syria, are looking for new territories to spread their influence on. Azerbaijan, geographically, is a convenient platform for extremists to act in all possible directions, whether north or south, east or west," he said.

Noting that the CSTO has the necessary capacities and potential to prevent a new escalation over Karabakh, the prime minister called for unresponsiveness to Azerbaijan's repeated appeals for purchasing weapons. "We are open in our aspiations for peace and ready for a constructive dialogue over conflict settlement based on the concept which I have now proposed," he said, thanking the Russian co-chairmanship of the OSCE Minsk Group for its peacemaking efforts.

At the summit attended also by the presidents of Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan, the Armenian leader also addressed the situation in Syria, highlighlighting the presence of the Armenian humanitarian mission in the country as an important peace- and stability-building effort. 

He also called for a strong international action to condemn the violations by Turkey of principles of international law, reiterating Armenia's support to Syria's territorial integrity and sovereignty.