CSTO chief's appointment "delayed due to Pashinyan’s obstinacy"

PanARMENIAN.Net - The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) for the coming year may be left without a full-fledged Secretary General. The appointment of the head of the Security Council of Belarus Stanislav Zas to the post is delayed because of the obstinacy of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Kommersant says.

According to a source at the Russian Foreign Ministry, the CSTO has accepted the fact that because of Armenia’s position the organization won't have a full-fledged Secretary General whose duties will continue to be performed by Russian representative Valery Semerikov for another year.

“We presume that until the beginning of 2020, the CSTO will also be headed by the acting Secretary General,” said the source.

The source also confirmed that they are expecting a new appointment next year.

"There is no collapse and stupor in the organization, it works in accordance with the plans. ”

The CSTO Collective Security Council relieved Armenia’s Yuri Khachaturov of his duties as the organization’s secretary general in late October.

On July 26, Armenia’s Special Investigative Service accused Khachaturov of overthrowing the constitutional order in 2008 and requested his arrest. Khachaturov, who was the Commander of the Armenian Armed Forces’ Yerevan Garrison back in 2008, pleaded not guilty. On July 28, the Yerevan City Court of General Jurisdiction released him on his own recognizance and a bail of about $10,000.