Working visit of President Serzh Sargsyan to Russian Federation

 
On December 21, in Moscow there took place a session of the Collective Security Council of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO). The session was presided over by Serzh Sargsyan, President of Armenia which assumed the chairmanship of the Organization. At the beginning, the negotiations were conducted in a restricted format and later continued in the extended format with the participation of the Presidents of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, the Secretary General of the Organization, and the members of the delegations.

At the plenary session of the CSTO Collective Security Council signed were documents, including the Declaration of the Heads of the CSTO on fighting international terrorism, resolutions of the Collective Security Council “On the Secretary General of the CSTO” and “On the rotation of the officials - members of the permanent bodies of the CSTO.” The Council decided to extend the term in office of the Secretary General of the Organization Nikolay Bordyuzha for one year.

At the session, the leaders of the CSTO member states exchanged views on the current global situation and future activities of the Organization. At the session of the Council President Serzh Sargsyan made a statement.

At the conclusion of the session of the CSTO Collective Security Council, President Serzh Sargsyan, who chaired the session, and CSTO Secretary General Nikolay Bordyuzha met with the representatives of mass media to wrap up the results of the session.

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At the session of the CSTO Collective Security Council, President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan made a statement. He spoke about the process of implementation of the decisions made at the September session of the Council, priorities of Armenia’s chairmanship in the Organization, forthcoming events to be conducted in the framework of the CSTO and touched upon the international and regional issues and challenges. In this context, the President of Armenia said in particular,

“Dear Colleagues,

Destruction by the Turkish armed forces of the Russian SU-24 aircraft has become a serious challenge for the efforts aimed at countering terrorism, resolution of the situation in Syria, and establishment of peace in the region. Each and every kind of backing terrorism deserves harsh criticism. In the evolvement of the situation related to the downing of the Russian aircraft, we witnessed how active political and military alliances are being formed. Unequivocal support extended to Turkey by the NATO member states, including, for instance, Greece reveals that “one for all, and all for one” principle is an indispensible prerequisite for the efficient functioning of such structures. Even though actions of Turkey disagree with all norms and principles of friendship and good-neighborly relations, even though it shot down an aircraft, which was carrying out a military mission of utmost importance for the international community in its fight against terrorism not a single NATO member state questioned the actions of the Turkish side. We need to learn from that.

There is no doubt that еach country has its own interests and priorities, but they should not be cited against our shared interests and mutual obligations. Every time when the armed forces of Azerbaijan use guns, rocket mortars, or artillery against the Republic of Armenia, they are firing at Astana, Dushanbe, Bishkek, Moscow, and Minsk. I would like to remind that we have a corresponding article in our Charter, and if we don’t implement that article, if we don’t discuss the situation, if we don’t view it as necessary to pick up the phone and make a call to learn what’s going on in the allied Armenia and along with that vote against each other’s interests in international organizations, adopt with third countries bilateral declarations the essence of which is aimed against the CSTO allies, we simply bring under that fire our entire Organization, its reputation, and significance.

Azerbaijan’s policy is directed at the escalation of the conflict. Unfortunately, after the session in Dushanbe the situation has not improved but has acquired even more acute nature. The Azeri side does not confine itself with the use of heavy artillery, including that of Turkish production. For the first time since the establishment of a cease-fire regime in 1994, on December 8, 2015 the Azeri armed forces carried out tank shelling, which has raised the existing tension on a new, much more dangerous level.

Taking into consideration precarious situation in the region, one should not rule out the possibility that Azerbaijan has taken this step by the tip or support from without.”

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On December 21, after the conclusion of the session of the Collective Security Council of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), President Serzh Sargsyan in Moscow participated at the restricted and later at the extended sessions of the Supreme Council of the Eurasian Economic Union.

At the negotiations, the heads of the member states of the Eurasian Economic Union President of the Republic of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan, President of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbaev, President of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan Almazbek Atambaev and President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin discussed the process of implementation of the decisions adopted at the previous, October 16, 2016 session of the Supreme Council, the budget of the Eurasian Economic Union for 2016, chairmanship in the structures of the Union, distribution of duties among the members of the collegial body of the Union and its staff, a census to be conducted in the member states in 2020, and other issues.

In the framework of the agenda, the heads of the Union member states approved the rate of the fee to be paid by the economic entities when appealing to the Court of the Eurasian Economic Union as well as the implementation of the directive on the “Cooperation of the Eurasian Economic Union member states on the issues related to the linkage of the EAEU and Silk Road economic area.”

The participants referred also to the annulment by the Russian Federation of the free trade agreement with Ukraine.