September 15, 2021 - 15:58 AMT
Armenia blasts Azerbaijan's destructive approach at key CSTO meeting

Azerbaijan continues to demonstrate a destructive approach, and to this day refuses to return Armenian prisoners of war and other captured persons, Secretary of the Security Council Armen Grigoryan told at a meeting of the Foreign Ministers, Defense Ministers and Secretaries of the CSTO Security Councils on Wednesday, September 15.

During the meeting in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, Grigoryan presented the current realities in the Caucasus region, paying special attention to the latest developments in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh).

The Secretary of the Security Council stressed that Azerbaijan's policy is clearly provocative, in particular, citing the incursion of the Azerbaijani armed forces into the sovereign territory of Armenia since May 12, expressing the hope that these encroachments will be condemned by the CSTO member states. The position of CSTO countries will have a sobering effect, he said.

Grigoryan noted that despite difficulties, the Artsakh issue needs a political solution, stressing the resumption of the peace process OSCE Minsk Group within the co-chairmanship.

Azerbaijani forces violated Armenia’s border in several sections in the provinces of Syunik and Gegharkunik on May 12 and 13 and are still refusing to withdraw their troops from the area. Since then, almost a dozen Armenian servicemen have been killed in Azerbaijan’s shooting, a dozen others have been wounded, while six troops were captured on May 27, although four of them have already returned home.