Epress.am News from Armenia
Russian President Vladimir Putin has refused to recognize the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) as a military-political alliance, thus justifying the conduct of CSTO allies, which refused to support Russia's position both in the August 2008 war with Georgia and during the current events surrounding Ukraine. This is the conclusion reached by Russian journalist Arkady Dubnov, who quoted an excerpt from the Russian president's speech at the Russian Security Council meeting on his Facebook page.
Dubnov writes:
"'Russia, thank god, is not a member of any alliance,' Putin said. 'This is also one of the substantial guarantees of our sovereignty. Any country that enters into alliances immediately loses a part of its sovereignty.'
"Political analyst Fyodor Lukyanov, responding to these remarks, continues. 'We have to thank god that we're alone.'
"His arguments are obvious. Russia's attempts to define its identity, to clarify what the Russian world is and what form of expansion in the former territories is relevant, by definition, are incompatible with finding allies.
"In this case, we must pay tribute to the Russian president: he called things by their proper names, but not all of them he uttered aloud.
"After all, Putin thus disavowed the Collective Security Treaty Organisation as a military-political alliance, thus justifying the behavior of CSTO allies, which refused to unequivocally support Russia's position in the August war with Georgia, as well as during current events around Ukraine.
"It's hard to say whether Moscow will receive a 'thank you' from Minsk, Astana, Bishkek, Dushanbe, and Yerevan for further indulgence, for the right to opt out of solidarity in the search for a Russian identity foreign to them.
"On the other hand, the allied capitals can now not be afraid to admit out loud that their relations with Russia in the framework of the CSTO are not an alliance, but a misalliance, an unequal marriage."