Russian MP on the position of Moscow in the event of a conflict in Karabakh

Moscow/15.11.18/Turan: The new authorities of Armenia want this country to join NATO, as alleged by the Acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, while attending Trident Juncture 2018 - NATO exercises in Norway. This sensational statement was made by State Duma deputy Dmitry Savelyev in an interview with Pravda.ru. "In recent years, the Armenian authorities have been intensively pedaling their military-political cooperation with NATO, taking part in various programs and activities of the North Atlantic Alliance, and various anti-Russian manifestations and statements occur periodically in Armenia itself," said Saveliev.

In contrast, Azerbaijan pursues a policy of non-alignment with military blocs.

In the new geopolitical conditions that were created in Armenia after the change of power, and taking into account the growth of Azerbaijani military power, close cooperation between Azerbaijan and the CSTO would be relevant.

Azerbaijan is already cooperating with countries that are members of the CSTO, including in the military-technical and military-political spheres, and I believe that if Baku expresses an official desire to join the CSTO, Russia will support Azerbaijan"s admission to this organization continued Savelyev.

On the question of what to do if Armenia is against Azerbaijan"s accession to the CSTO, the MP said that the tense relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan cannot be the cause. Thus, for many years there has been a conflict between Greece and Turkey - members of NATO, but both countries remain its members.

"The main factors determining the entry of Azerbaijan into the CSTO will not be the opposition of Armenia, but the political will of Baku itself and the position of such countries as Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus and Tajikistan. If necessary, they will be able to convince Armenia not to act contrary to the interests of the main participants of the CSTO. And there is a need, because the inclusion of the CSTO in the process of resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict will have a positive effect on the negotiation process, as it will help bring together the positions of Azerbaijan and Armenia, thereby reducing the threat of resumption of hostilities between them as much as possible," said Saveliev.

In Armenia, there was a stir around the statement made by the Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Defense and Security of the State Duma, Yury Shvytkin, which was regarded as a promise of Russian armed assistance in resolving the Karabakh conflict. Is it so?

To this question, Saveliev said that Russia is ready to ensure the security of Armenia in the event of military aggression against this country. In the event of an aggression against Yerevan, all CSTO members should provide military support to Armenia, but not to Nagorno-Karabakh.

"Again, I repeat: with regard to military support, which Yerevan seems to expect from Russia in the Karabakh conflict, this has nothing to do with the legal side of the issue if we are talking about the CSTO. Azerbaijan did not even keep in mind to attack Armenia. Military operations now and then flare up on the territory of the unrecognized republic of Nagorno-Karabakh, which is not Armenian territory. Moreover, the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic today is legally unrecognized by no one, including even Armenia itself, and in fact cannot be a member of the CSTO. Because of what, then, all the fuss? Why should Russia or any other country participating in the CSTO intervene in the conflict on Azerbaijani soil?" said the deputy. -02D-