Armenia has criticized its allies in the Collective Security Treaty Organization, a military alliance led by Russia, for what it described as their "failure" to defend its country against its neighbor, Azerbaijan.

"So far, we have not been able to agree on a response from the Collective Security Treaty Organization to the Azerbaijani aggression against Armenia," Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said during a summit in Yerevan of this military alliance that includes former Soviet republics.

He believed, "It is unfortunate that Armenia's membership in the Collective Security Treaty Organization was unable to contain the Azerbaijani aggression."

"This matter causes great damage to the image of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, both in our country and abroad," said Pashinyan, who met Russian President Vladimir Putin present at the summit.

CSTO summit started in Yerevan today.

It looks like they are trying to stay away from Putin


. Maybe he has blood dripping from his hands?

Well, it's brave to take half a step back… pic.twitter.com/JzQhnJJPfV

- Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) November 23, 2022

A decades-old struggle

It is noteworthy that Azerbaijan and Armenia have been locked in a conflict for decades over the Nagorno-Karabakh region, which historically included a majority of the Armenian population, but was a legal part of Azerbaijan under the rule of the Soviets, and after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Karabakh declared its independence from Baku under the name of the Republic of Artsakh with the support of Yerevan. Which sparked a war that lasted 3 years.

The war ended in 1994 with the victory of Armenia, and Karabakh remained for a quarter of a century under effective Armenian control, although its status was never internationally recognized.

After decades of stalemate, Azerbaijan recovered large parts of this region in a military campaign in 2020, forcing Armenia to make major territorial concessions and sign a peace agreement sponsored by Moscow.

Sporadic clashes continued, despite the deployment of Russian soldiers, whether in Nagorno-Karabakh or on the recognized border between the two countries.

Armenia requested military assistance from the Collective Security Treaty Organization and Moscow last September, according to the agreement that regulates the activities of the alliance.

However, the Collective Security Treaty Organization, which includes, in addition to Russia and Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, was satisfied with sending its Secretary-General to the conflict area and proposed forming a working group to analyze the situation.