Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan received the participants of the session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Collective Security Treaty Organization: Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Foreign Minister of Belarus Vladimir Makei, Foreign Minister of Kazakhstan Mukhtar Tleuberdi, Foreign Minister of Kyrgyzstan Jeenbek Kulubaev, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Tajikistan Sirojiddin Muhriddin and CSTO Secretary General Stanislav Zas.

In his opening remarks the Prime Minister said,

“Dear friends,

Welcome to our country, to our capital. And I salute the holding of the session of the CSTO Council of Foreign Ministers in our country.

This year we have a double jubilee: we celebrate the 30th anniversary of the signing of the Collective Security Treaty and the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the Collective Security Treaty Organization. It is very nice to note that in this jubilee year, after the coronavirus pandemic, the dynamics that we have traditionally had is again being restored. And, as we have said many times, I think that the jubilee is a very good opportunity to analyze the past, to highlight our successes and achievements, to talk about the shortcomings that have been observed during the existence and work of our organization.

You know that the CSTO is one of the most important factors for the security of our countries, and I must say with regret that the situation in the area of responsibility of our organization is not so stable. In this context, I think it is necessary to cooperate closely, exchange information, situation assessments in order to launch the mechanisms for crisis prevention and management at the right time.

I have to mention that we are very happy to host various CSTO events with such intensity. We recently hosted a sitting of the CSTO Parliamentary Assembly in Yerevan, and now this important event. We are expecting the Secretaries of the Security Councils of the CSTO member states on June 17. These are really good opportunities to talk, to discuss the agenda of our organization.

Welcome once again, I hope you have an effective session and time in our republic."

During the meeting with the CSTO Foreign Ministers, the Prime Minister of Armenia referred to the current regional situation, speaking about the activities of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Delimitation and Border Security Commission, the opening of regional communication routes, the return of Armenian prisoners of war, hostages and other civilians being kept in Azerbaijan till now. In this context, Nikol Pashinyan highlighted the support of the international community.

The Prime Minister emphasized that Armenia is interested in unblocking regional communications, and all the roads that will be opened will operate under the sovereignty of the countries through which they pass. There can be no "corridor" logic, and this perception is shared by everyone. In the context of the settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, Nikol Pashinyan emphasized the issue of the status of Nagorno Karabakh, stressing that the conflict should be settled peacefully within the framework of the format of OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs.

The Prime Minister of Armenia noticed that the issue of the incursion of Azerbaijani troops into the sovereign territory of Armenia since May 2021 still remains open, in connection with which Armenia applied to the CSTO. In this context, the sides exchanged views on the improvement of CSTO monitoring and rapid response mechanisms, which will increase the effectiveness of the organization in meeting the security challenges of the member states.