Despite Armenia's membership in the CSTO, the West is trying to influence the post-conflict settlement between Baku and Yerevan. This was said on February 14 by the head of the Joint Staff of the CSTO, Colonel-General Andrey Serdyukov. The information was provided by "Izvestiya.ru".

"Despite Armenia's membership in the organization, attempts from outside continue to influence the format of the post-conflict settlement," he said in a briefing broadcast by "Sputnik Belarus" portal.

Serdyukov said that individual states are trying to strengthen their positions in the South Caucasus and gain access to the resources of the Caspian Sea. For this, they use the high conflict potential of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border.

On the night of February 13, the State Border Service of Azerbaijan announced a "retaliatory operation", as a result of which a combat post of the Armenian Armed Forces was destroyed, and Yerevan said that 4 soldiers were killed. Azerbaijan called it a response to the attack by Armenian soldiers on February 12, as a result of which, according to Baku, a soldier of the country's state border service was injured.

Earlier, on February 1, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan emphasized that the country should have a combat-ready army to defend its territory within the borders of the former Armenian SSR. On the same day, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev stressed that peace between Yerevan and Baku will be possible after changes are made to the Armenian Constitution.

On October 5, 2023, Pashinyan signed a declaration recognizing the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. This includes Karabakh. This happened after the escalation of the conflict in 2023, when the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan seized control of Karabakh on September 19 and demanded the complete withdrawal of Armenian military personnel from there. The next day, the parties agreed on a complete cessation of hostilities.

At the end of September, the head of the so-called "Nagorno-Karabakh Republic" Samvel Shahramanyan signed a decree that it will cease its activities from January 1, 2024.

P. Amirjanov

XQ