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Everything looks good on paper in Russia ­- even CSTO

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2017 - 2018

24 Khrizantema anti-tank missile systems, 800 9M123 missiles, 76 BTR-82 APCs

2019

4 Su-30 fighters, 2 Tor-M1 SAM systems, 50 9M338 missiles

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We can see that Russia delivered more armaments to Azerbaijan - not to its CSTO ally Armenia, but instead to Armenia's enemy.

The delivered armaments give us some quite interesting conclusions. In the reference period, both countries received armaments to be used against each other. For instance, Azerbaijan received 100 tanks, while Armenia received 100 anti-tank missile systems. This further indicates that Russia wants for the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh to escalate.

This is also suggested by the fact that Russia and Armenia are CSTO member states, and Article 4 of the organization's treaty,3 just as NATO's Article 5, intends mutual assistance in cases of an armed attack or threats to the security, stability and territorial integrity against a member state - a threat against one member is considered a threat against all members.

The conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh has been present for quite some time, but it doesn't seem that the CSTO is willing to engage. A logical question comes to mind - what point is there in being part of an organization that doesn't fulfill its intended purpose? I will add that it is not only the CSTO that is idle, but also the CIS. Why is that?

The answer is simple: both the CSTO and the CIS were established for the sole purpose of furthering Russia's interests. Currently, Russia benefits from the war between Armenia and Azerbaijan and, regardless of which country will emerge victorious, Russia will be the real winner.

In a sense, Russia can kill two birds with one stone by agreeing to a limited war in which Azerbaijan regains a part of its territory but doesn't threaten the existence of Armenia. This would be a huge favor to Azerbaijan without Moscow having to lose Armenia because Armenia has nowhere else to go.4 Therefore, the CSTO and the CIS will be completely useless in case they decide to go against Russia's interests.

But there is another player - Turkey which undoubtedly supports only Azerbaijan. However, there is one interesting aspect here as well: as we know, Turkey is a NATO member but in the summer of 2019 it procured S-400 air defense systems from Russia.5

Many NATO member states reprimanded Turkey for this decision, and the US excluded Turkey from participating in its F-35 fighter program.6

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Zintis Znotiņš Social Media Pages: Facebook page url on login Profile not filled in       Twitter page url on login Profile not filled in       Linkedin page url on login Profile not filled in       Instagram page url on login Profile not filled in

On a daily basis I am working as freelance independent investigative journalist. I am happy to be the Latvian patriot, born in Riga. I Have studied politics and journalism at the Latvian University. Currently, on a voluntary basis, I am helping (more...)
 

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