MOSCOW, January 24 (Asia Free Press): Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the prospects of further interaction within the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) framework in a phone conversation with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, the Kremlin press service said.
“Considering Armenia’s current chairmanship of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, the prospects of further interaction within the framework of the CSTO were discussed,” reported TASS.
Putin briefly informed him on talks on security guarantees. “Per Nikol Pashinyan’s request, the Russian President briefly informed [him] on the negotiation process with the US and its allies on the security guarantees of the Russian Federation,” the statement included.
Putin and Pashinyan also discussed trilateral agreements between the leaders of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia in a phone conversation, which the conversation was held at the initiative of the Armenian side.
“The practical aspects of the implementation of the agreements recorded in trilateral statements by the leaders of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia from November 9, 2020, January 11 and November 26, 2021, were discussed, including the issues related to the delimitation and demarcation of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border,” the Kremlin statement claimed.
On December 17, 2021, the Russian Foreign Ministry published the draft agreements between Moscow and Washington on security guarantees and the measures of ensuring the security of Russia and NATO member states. The first round of talks held on January 10-13, 2022, did not bring immediate results; currently, Moscow is expecting Washington’s written response to its proposals.
CSTO is a Russian-led intergovernmental military alliance comprised of Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, which signed a Collective Security Treaty. The CSTO has recently played its role very effectively in Kazakhstan, where massive riots have been staged against inflations, earlier in January 2022.