Armenian leaders have repeatedly accused Russia and other ex-Soviet states making up the alliance of not fulfilling their obligation to defend Armenia against Azerbaijani attacks. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian threatened last month to pull his country out of the alliance “if we conclude that the CSTO has left Armenia.”
Lukashenko said the CSTO is “very often” rightly criticized by its member states as he addressed the foreign ministers of Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan who gathered in Minsk for a regular session.
“For instance, Kyrgyzstan has been asking us to help settle the border conflict with Tajikistan,” he said. “Very justified complaints -- and there is sometimes no question about that -- are presented to us by Armenia.”
“I won’t comment on whether or not these complaints are justified,” he went on after a pause. “But I will say that problems do exist and they are very serious problems. Unless we address these problems, we will always rebuke each other, express dissatisfaction with the overall functioning of the organization.”
“Therefore, no matter how we twist or turn, we need to also dive into problems facing CSTO members Armenia, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan,” Lukashenko added, warning that failure to do so could deepen what he called Western interference in conflicts in the former Soviet Union.
The remarks contrasted with Lukashenko’s earlier statements on Armenia’s conflict with Azerbaijan. As recently as last October, the long-serving strongman bluntly opposed any CSTO intervention in the conflict. Azerbaijan is not an adversary of Belarus and its President Ilham Aliyev is “totally our guy,” he said, sparking a fresh war of words between Yerevan and Minsk.
Lukashenko, who has a warm personal rapport with Aliyev, had repeatedly raised eyebrows in Armenia in the past with his pro-Azerbaijani statements and arms supplies to Baku.