It is not within the competence of the Secretariat, as a working body of CSTO, to comment on the statements of the members of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Vahan Hunanyan noted.

Asked that CSTO Secretariat commented on the issue of the cancellation of military exercises on the territory of the Republic of Armenia, the spokesman noted: "First of all, we want to note that the competence of the Secretariat, as a working body of CSTO, does not include commenting statements of the members of the CSTO Collective Security Treaty Organization, the highest body of the Organization."

"CSTO member states do not expect any understanding of their actions and decisions from the Secretariat.

"The tasks of the Secretariat are clearly defined in the statutory documents of the Organization. The Secretariat is a working body to provide organizational, informational, analytical and advisory support to the activities of the bodies of the Organization.

"We urge the newly appointed Secretary General of the Organization to conduct a scrupulous verification of the fact of the Secretariat's comments in order to prevent a repetition of this kind," he said.