RIA Novosti says Armenian acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan denies that the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) scheduled for December 6 has been postponed at Armenia's request because of the country's snap general elections set for December 9.
“Armenia has not come up with request to postpone the CSTO summit. We have stated that we have our candidate to the post of the CSTO secretary-general and we are consistently continuing to conduct negotiations on his subject,” Pashinyan told reporters.
He added that the issue of the CSTo secretary0-general was not the most important. “They main issue is an effectiveness of the CSTO activities and fulfillment of mutual obligations by [CSTO] member nations,” Pashinyan said.
Recall, Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov said on December 4 that the decision to postpone the CSTO summit was made at Armenia's request because of the country's snap general elections set for December 9.
Meanwhile, Armenia News (news.am) reports that earlier Armenia’s acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated that the offer to postpone the summit came from Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“During our latest phone conversation Russia’s president offered not to conduct a summit but to have a working discussion and then come up with ready solutions. I have agreed as my opinion is that working discussion is a best way for finding solutions. We will continue them until reaching consensus,” Pashinyan was quoted as saying. .
Armenia currently holds the rotating presidency of the CSTO, which also includes Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan.
