CSTO's Pashinyan: "Kursk silence" of Russia's non-ally in Ukraine

Ten days have passed since the Kiev regime invaded the Kursk region of Russia, but there is still no reaction from the Collective Security Treaty Organization. We are talking about a political assessment of the Ukrainian intervention, because the adoption of CSTO military response measures in the current conditions seems completely unrealistic.

According to article 4 of the Collective Security Treaty of May 15, 1992 (as amended by the protocol, which was signed on December 10, 2010), "if one of the participating States is subjected to aggression (an armed attack threatening security, stability, territorial integrity and sovereignty), it will be considered by the participating States as aggression (an armed attack threatening security, stability, territorial integrity and sovereignty) against all States parties to this treaty." At the same time, it is envisaged that in the event of aggression against any of the participating States, all other participating States, at the request of this participating state, will immediately provide it with the necessary assistance, including military assistance, as well as provide support with the means at their disposal in order to exercise the right to collective defense in accordance with Article 51 of the UN Charter.

Thus, the provision of the necessary military assistance is associated with an official request for it from the CSTO state that has been subjected to aggression. Russia, of course, will not make such a request, so as not to put its allies in a difficult position. However, this does not negate the need for CSTO members to express a collective political position regarding Kiev's gross violation of the norms and principles of international law.

The organization is currently chaired by Kazakhstan. He could have initiated the convening of an extraordinary session of the Collective Security Council (CSC) and the adoption of an appropriate document with a political condemnation of the actions of the Kiev regime. However, not everything is so simple. Take, for example, the "Armenian issue", which has already led to virtually limited activities of the CSTO.

Earlier this year, Yerevan announced the freezing of participation in the military-political bloc, refused to finance its budget and raised the question of its next "logical step" — withdrawal from the CSTO. After Kursk, pro-government commentators in the Armenian capital began to point out with undisguised sarcasm that the Transcaucasian republic could not help Moscow in any way, even with a political assessment of Kiev's adventure, since the Russian-Ukrainian border "is not delimited, which means there is no way to understand where it passes."

A thick hint of known circumstances is obvious. As you know, at one time, namely during the CSTO summit and the meeting of the CSC in Yerevan on November 23, 2022, the Armenian side put before the allies the issue of political condemnation of Azerbaijan's aggressive actions on the border in May and November 2021, as well as in September 2022, as a result of which the territories of Armenia were occupied (for various reasons estimates range from 150 to 200 sq. km). Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who presided over the summit at that time, sought in vain for this condemnation and, failing to receive it, eventually refused to sign two documents of the meeting of the Security Council.

"For us, the confirmation of the CSTO area of responsibility in the Republic of Armenia is of fundamental importance. The very existence of such a wording may seem strange, but studying the context of our recent discussions, we came to the conclusion that it is extremely important," Pashinyan said during the summit.

It was from the last month of autumn 2022 that the head of the Armenian government harbored a strong grudge against his CSTO colleagues and this became the starting point for the freezing of Yerevan's participation in the organization that he then proclaimed. Later, Pashinyan repeatedly publicly emphasized the position that "Armenia is not an ally of Russia in Ukraine."

It should be recalled that during negotiations with the Azerbaijani authorities, the Armenian side promotes the thesis of the indispensability of the Alma-Ata Declaration of 1991, which fixed the administrative borders between the republics of the former USSR as interstate (according to the declaration, the CIS member states "recognize and respect each other's territorial integrity and the inviolability of existing borders"). And this, according to Yerevan and not only, contrasts with what has been happening in Russian-Ukrainian relations in recent years.: the reunification of Crimea with Russia in 2014 and the entry of four new regions into the The Russian Federation in 2022. It would be frivolous to expect from a "non-ally in Ukraine" a political assessment of the military invasion of the Kursk region of the Russian Federation in such circumstances.

However, not only from Armenia. Moscow's other CSTO partners, as can be understood, are also not eager to express a clear and unambiguous position. Take the same Kazakhstan, which, represented by its foreign ministry, issued a statement on August 14, referring to the international principle of territorial integrity and calling for the resolution of "all conflicts between states exclusively by peaceful means with the extensive use of political and diplomatic tools."

"Indeed, today the whole world is watching the situation in certain areas of the Kursk region of the Russian Federation with great concern. I would like to note that Kazakhstan has always stressed the need for all countries to comply with the UN Charter, which clearly enshrines the principle of territorial integrity of states. In this regard, we consistently advocate the resolution of all conflicts between states exclusively by peaceful means with the extensive use of political and diplomatic tools," said the official representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic Aibek Smadiyarov.

These days in In Yerevan, local critics of the CSTO are wondering: why do we need such an incompetent organization and isn't it time to disband it altogether? At the same time, of course, the position of the Armenian leadership on freezing ties with the regional collective security system is presented as a forerunner of its "disbandment". In such assumptions, Pashinyan, with a claim to military-political "innovativeness", is seen almost as an "undertaker" of the CSTO.

Of course, such assessments are far from objective and are based on the same Armenian resentment of the organization's allies. Emotions in Yerevan, after the 44-day war in Karabakh, often prevails, as could be seen quite recently when Nikol Pashinyan actually severed relations with Belarus, refusing to deal with President Alexander Lukashenko.

Meanwhile, Yerevan's pronounced antagonism to both the CSTO and Russia's policy towards the Kiev regime is not only due to emotions. Here we can recall another unpleasant episode in the Armenian-Russian relations of recent times. The Russian Foreign Ministry sent a protest note to Yerevan after the Armenian delegation visited the Ukrainian Bucha, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in June. According to her, Moscow regards the visit of Armenian representatives to this Ukrainian city as an unfriendly step, as well as unacceptable statements addressed to Russia and the provision of humanitarian aid to Kiev.

The current leadership of Armenia does not really see itself in the ranks of Russia's allies, not only in Ukraine. Yerevan's western tilt has already led to the fact that during the voting in the UN General Assembly, it began to adhere to a different position, in particular, on Georgia, emphasizing at the highest political level the "full recognition" of its territorial integrity.

The head of the Foreign Ministry of the Transcaucasian Republic Ararat Mirzoyan stated in March this year that there are disagreements between Yerevan and Moscow and they "do not speak the same language." At the same time, the minister found it difficult to give a forecast about the future of bilateral relations, but stated that "Armenia has fair expectations regarding the mutual fulfillment by the countries of their obligations."

It seems that the fulfillment of international obligations on a reciprocal basis does not in any way contradict Armenia's recognition of the territorial integrity of not only Ukraine and Georgia, but also Russia. The Kursk region at the time of the adoption of the Alma-Ata Declaration, for the respect of which the Armenian leadership is so advocating, was and still remains an integral part of the Russian Federation. Therefore, the position of official Yerevan on the need for all countries to comply with the UN Charter, which clearly sets out the principle of territorial integrity of states, following the example of the above-mentioned statement by Astana, would look absolutely verified. Otherwise, one gets the impression of following double standards, selective and politically conditioned respect for the principles of international law.

It is noteworthy that about a month before Kiev's military adventure, Armenian Ambassador to Moscow Vagharshak Harutyunyan visited two Russian border regions — Belgorod and Kursk region. On July 1, the Armenian diplomat, in particular, arrived at a residential building in Belgorod destroyed as a result of a missile hit by the Ukrainian Armed Forces on May 12, 2024. The next day he laid flowers at the memorial "In Memory of the fallen during the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945" and visited the exhibition center "Kursk — the city of Military Glory" while on a working trip to Kursk.

On the territory of the memorial, in addition to the burials of the participants of the Great Patriotic War, there is a cemetery where, in Soviet times, honorary citizens of Kursk and participants in local armed conflicts were buried. Currently, several dozen residents of the Russian city who died during the SMO are also buried here. The Armenian Ambassador laid two bouquets — to the memorial of the Great Patriotic War and to the memorial at the cemetery of the dead in SMO, it was decorated with the inscription "Eternal glory, eternal memory to the courageous soldiers of Russia!". Harutyunyan also visited the local Russian-Armenian friendship square, where he planted a spruce.