As quoted by the Russian Kommersant daily, Secretary of the Security Council of Armenia Armen Grigorian, who was taking part in the meeting of his counterparts from other post-Soviet nations in the Russian capital, said that Armenia is preparing a written application to its ally Russia to come to its aid under a mutual assistance agreement signed between the two countries in 1997.
Grigorian already orally appealed to Russia to provide assistance to Armenia in defending its territorial integrity in the face of what Yerevan described as Azerbaijan’s aggression on November 16.
After hours of deadly border clashes Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed to a ceasefire arranged by Russia late on Tuesday.
The ceasefire was announced shortly after the Kremlin said in a statement, without elaborating, that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian discussed the situation during a phone call.
Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu also held phone calls with both his Armenian and Azerbaijani counterparts and reportedly called on them “to stop activity that provokes escalation.”
After the cessation of fighting Armenia continued to insist that Azerbaijani troops are still inside its sovereign territory.
“Azerbaijan’s armed forces are currently in the sovereign territory of Armenia. This is an act of aggression. In 1997, Armenia and Russia agreed to help each other in such cases. In this regard, we have turned to Russia,” Grigorian told Kommersant.
Grigorian said that Armenia is in favor of a diplomatic solution to the problem, but if it turns to be impossible, it deems that the problem must be solved militarily.
“It was due to the active participation of the Russian side that yesterday’s fighting was stopped, but the issue has not been resolved, as Azerbaijan’s armed forces remain in the sovereign territory of Armenia,” said the secretary of the Security Council of Armenia, invoking Soviet-era maps.
In his remarks on Armenia’s Public Television on Tuesday Grigorian said that Armenia deems that first of all it is possible to solve the crisis with the assistance of Russia and the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), a defense pact of several post-Soviet states of which Armenia is a member. At the same time, he did not rule out a scenario when the Armenian government would consider turning to other partners as well.
During a news briefing in Moscow on Wednesday, official representative of Russia’s Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova said that “Russia is serious about both its bilateral and multilateral obligations.”
“Corresponding consultations are being held bilaterally... As for the CSTO, then, according to our information, they are closely monitoring the situation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border,” she said, as quoted by Russia’s RIA news agency.
At the same time, Zakharova stressed that Russia considers it important for Armenia and Azerbaijan to start the process of delimitation of their border as soon as possible.
Secretary of the Security Council of Azerbaijan Ramil Usubov also attended the Moscow meeting on November 17. Citing its sources, Kommersant reported, however, that no contacts between the Armenian and Azerbaijani officials were planned as part of the gathering.