The CSTO helps the participating countries only in case of external aggression, so Armenia could not expect the CSTO's support in the conflict with Azerbaijan, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.
"The events in Karabakh have their own specifics: Armenia did not recognize Karabakh as an independent state and certainly did not include Karabakh in its perimeter. It means that everything that happened in Karabakh has no legal relation to Armenia, so it's a bit strange to pretend that the CSTO fought on the territory of this enclave," Putin explained.
The Armenian authorities claim that the CSTO has done nothing to protect the country in this conflict, so Yerevan has frozen its membership in the Organization.
"But the CSTO has nothing to do with it, because there was no external aggression against Armenia itself. The CSTO is designed to protect its member countries from external aggression," Putin stressed.
The Armenian side is now refusing all meetings in the CSTO format, but supports all documents adopted by the organization.
Putin does not rule out that Armenia will return to full-fledged participation in the CSTO.
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