Russia expects the Armenian side to take initiative in deploying a CSTO mission on Armenian soil, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said, TASS reports.
"From our Armenian partners, we are awaiting some dynamic moves on renewing focused work on deploying a CSTO mission on Armenian soil, other joint measures on helping our ally. The Russian side is ready for this work, and Yerevan is well aware of it," the diplomat said at a briefing on Wednesday.
According to her, Russia considers the public criticism of the CSTO by Armenian officials counterproductive. "The aspiration of the Armenian leadership to discuss the issues of the organization’s effectiveness outside this very organization is puzzling when the CSTO has all the necessary formats for it, established interaction channels, and most importantly, the participants of this organization, this structure who are not only ready to hear all of this out but prepared to work on this as well," Zakharova noted.
