By Emilio Luciano Cricchio
Stanislav Zas, Secretary General of the Collective Treaty Security Organization (CSTO), arrived in Yerevan on August 9 to hold talks with Armenia’s political and military leadership. The CSTO is a Russian led military alliance of which Armenia is a member.
Zas met with acting Foreign Minister Armen Grigoryan and discussed the incursions by the Azerbaijani Armed Forces in the Syunik and Gegharkunik regions, as well as on Armenia’s border with Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhchivan.
They furthermore discussed the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh, Armenia’s upcoming presidency of the CSTO and a settlement of the conflict with Azerbaijan, under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group.
Zas is also due to meet with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Defense Minister Arshak Karapetyan.
In May 2021, in the midst of the border incursions by the Azerbaijani Armed Forces in the southern region of Syunik, Armenia applied to the CSTO for assistance, under Article 2 of the CSTO charter.
However, by early July, Zas stated that what was happening in southern Armenia was a “border incident” and doesn’t fall under the provisions of the CSTO charter on collective defense.
