YEREVAN. - The statement of Nikolay Bordyuzha, Secretary General of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) that Armenia will get additional assistance from CSTO in case of exacerbation of situation in Nagorno-Karabakh was a direct signal to Azerbaijan, Armenian Parliament Deputy Speaker Eduard Sharmazanov told Armenian News – NEWS.am today after Executive body session of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA).

“CSTO Secretary General’s announcement that the organization will assist Armenia in case of tension proves that the CSTO is Armenia’s ally and Armenia – as a CSTO member-state - can expect the support of its ally countries. Bordyuzha’s statement was a direct signal to Azerbaijan, implying that the conflict tension is out of the question,” Sharmazanov said.  

Responding to the question on whether Bordyuzha made such a statement because there is a danger of resumption of military actions, Sharmazanov said that such a danger will always persist as long as the Karabakh conflict is not finally normalized.  

“As long as [our] soldiers are wounded on the border, we must always be ready for war. They say, if you want peace, prepare for war. The ancient Romans were not fools to say such a thing,” Sharmazanov said, adding that he excludes the resumption of wide-scale military actions, since the presidents of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairing countries have not once declared that the conflict must have an exclusively peaceful settlement.