There were two things expected from the CSTO: firstly, to fix what the CSTO zone of responsibility in Armenia is, and secondly, to give a clear political assessment of what happened, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said during the government hour.
According to him, it is important because when the Azerbaijani army advanced without encountering resistance, the opposition said that since the Armenian army is not fighting, what should expect from the CSTO. "Then November came, the Armenian army was fighting, September 13 came, the Armenian army was fighting, and that accusation was dropped. Now we are waiting for the CSTO assessment. Now it is emphasized that there was an offer of assistance, and we declined assistance. It is important to specify, there was a line - to render assistance to Armenia, including military-technical assistance. First of all, it is not clear what kind of assistance was offered. Besides, the acceptance of the CSTO assistance without clear evaluations will mean an indirect or even direct acceptance of the status-quo on our borders. Acceptance of the monitoring mission in the Sotq-Khoznavar segment without clear political assessment means just fixing and accepting the status quo," Pashinyan said. The premier noted that in Prague, for instance, the sides clearly fixed the territorial integrity of each other based on the 1991 Alma-Ata Declaration, after which it became possible to send an observation mission to Armenia, "Because if the observer is not told clearly where the border is, what is there to observe?" The Prime Minister added that with all this, the security challenges around Armenia have not decreased, perhaps even increased.
During the CSTO summit in Yerevan on November 23 Pashinyan said that he had not signed the draft declaration of the CSTO Collective Security Council and joint assistance measures because both documents needed to be reworked.
CSTO Secretary General Stanislav Zas said later that the organization offered both political-diplomatic and military assistance to Armenia, including sending a mission to the Armenian-Azerbaijani border.
