Armenia should withdraw from CSTO, the head of Heritage parliamentary group Stepan Safaryan told NEWS.am. According to him, Armenia cannot feel safe being a CSTO member.

The MP considers that there is no completely secure system of protection, whether it is NATO, CSTO or any other organization. “We remember many examples showing that a country being a member of such organizations did not get necessary assistance while solving certain military problems. One can recall, for instance, the Greek-Turkish conflict within the framework of NATO,” Safaryan stated. He deems that CSTO is not a security guarantor. “We should also take into account Russia’s unclear flirting with Azerbaijan,” he noted, adding that if Armenia’s strategic partner sells S-300 air-defense system to a state that is openly expressing its aggression towards Armenia, it gives grounds for concern.

The Heritage member also called Russia’s conduct absurd. Commenting on speculations that Russia sells defensive weapons to Azerbaijan for commercial purposes only, Stepan Safaryan stated that a strategic partner should spare no efforts to stabilize situation in the region, but not fulfill commercial purposes. “It is absurd to sell weapons to our opponents and then pledge to protect us from it,” he concluded.