Accusations that Russia has betrayed its CSTO commitments are tainted in connection with the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh [(Artsakh)]. This was stated by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in an interview with RT television, the text of which has been posted on the website of the Russian Foreign Ministry on Thursday.

"After all, you see how tainted they are, including in our Russian political science environment, commenting on what happened. Some of our analysts directly accuse us [Russia] of betraying our obligations under the Collective Security Treaty.

First of all, I do not think that people—and I know their names—are just politically illiterate; they are legally uneducated.

Secondly, they cannot help but know that the CSTO commitments apply exclusively to the joint defense of a CSTO member state from foreign aggression, which, of course, did not happen with Armenia. There are many such examples; I leave them to the conscience of their persons behind abroad and in the Russian Federation.

Now, apparently, all means are justified for our 'crazy' opposition—even to the point of open distortion of facts," said the Russian FM.

On November 9, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a joint statement on a complete cessation of hostilities in and around Artsakh. Accordingly, Russian peacekeepers will be deployed in the region to monitor the implementation of the ceasefire and the cessation of hostilities. But this statement also stipulates the handover of part of Artsakh lands to Azerbaijan.