Putin: "CSTO shouldn’t have fought for Yerevan in Karabakh”

“There was no external aggression against Armenia. The CSTO is to protect its member states from external aggression. The events related to Karabakh have their own specifics. Armenia has not recognized Karabakh as an independent state and has not included Karabakh in its state territory. What happened in Karabakh has no legal connection to Armenia.

Every country has the right to choose independently what to do in the security sector. Armenia’s current attitude towards the CSTO is dictated by domestic political issues and the Karabakh issue,” the Russian president said.

He noted that Armenia has not yet announced its withdrawal from the organization, supports all the summit documents, and did not rule out Armenia’s return to the full work of the CSTO.