Kremlin: CSTO summit pushed back at Armenia's request

PanARMENIAN.Net - The summit of leaders of member countries of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), scheduled for December 6, was canceled at the request of Armenia, which is preparing for elections,aide to the Russian President Yuri Ushakov told reporters on Tuesday, December 4.

Acting Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said earlier that Russian President Vladimir Putin has proposed postponing the summit.

"Given, in particular, the request by the Armenian side referring to the campaign which ends with elections on December 9, it was decided that the CSTO [summit] meeting should not be held [on December 6]," he said.

According to the Kremlin representative, Valery Semerikov thus remains the acting Secretary General of the CSTO.

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.

The heads of CSTO member countries are to appoint a new chief by consensus.