Armenian Defense Minister won’t attend CSTO meeting "for technical reasons"

PanARMENIAN.Net - Armenian Defense Minister Suren Papikyan will not take part in the meeting of the Council of Heads of the CSTO Defense Ministry on May 25 in Minsk “for technical reasons”, the press service of the Ministry reports.

Papikyan's non-participation in the meeting has nothing to do with the relations between Armenia and the Organization, secretary of the ruling Civil Contract faction Artur Hovhannisyan said Thursday, May 25, according to Interfax.

“The fact that the Armenian Defense Minister will not participate in the meeting is not connected with the relations between Armenia and the CSTO. There is no political commentary on this. I think that this is due to various technical issues,” Hovhannisyan told reporters.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu stated the importance of Armenia’s participation in joint operational and combat training activities within the CSTO.

“Armenia is a member of our organization, our ally. We are interested in establishing peace and are doing everything possible to stabilize the situation in the South Caucasus. At the same time, I would especially like to note the importance of Armenia’s participation in joint operational and combat training activities within the CSTO,” Shoigu said at a meeting of the Council of Defense Ministers of the CSTO member states in Minsk.