The CSTO has always stated that everything is ready from their side to send a mission to Armenia, but the Armenian side sets a precondition for recording the fact of aggression. Why was it decided for the first time in three years to apply preconditions not to enemies, but to friendly powers and countries if you have decided to speak with preconditions? Why those preconditions do not apply to Turkey-Armenia relations in a similar way? Opposition MP Kristine Vardanyan asked foreign minister Ararat Mirzoyan these questions during Monday’s debates, at the joint session of the National Assembly committees, on the performance of the 2022 state budget of Armenia.

In response, Mirzoyan said: "We have had the opportunity to present our position very clearly. What you said, we also often hear from our other partners that we are setting a precondition for the adoption of that decision, etc.

"There is no precondition; there is something like this in the decision of the draft: in September, the sovereign territory of Armenia was violated, the border was violated [by Azerbaijan]; according to that, there is a need to send a monitoring mission. In our opinion, this should be the minimum reaction of the military alliance [i.e. the CSTO] of which we are a member.

"It was not possible for our partners [in the CSTO] to make such a claim until now. By not specifying that the sovereign territory of Armenia was violated during the September aggression, it turns out that the Azerbaijani talk is legitimized. It is better for our allies not to make any statement than to make a statement that legitimizes the talk that if there is no border line, it is difficult to condemn anyone and say who has entered whose territory."