Armenia is facing serious risk of failure in the CSTO, newly elected first deputy president of Republican party Vigen Sargsyan told the reporters today, referring to the results of the session of heads of CSTO member states in Astana.

“I think our government must do everything not to lose the post of the secretary general in the CSTO at the session in St. Petersburg on December 6. If we lose the post it will be the biggest failure of the government,” he said, adding that the risk of losing the post should have been considered before undertaking steps against former secretary general of CSTO Yuri Khachaturov.

“Our government exerted serious efforts for having posts in the EAEU and CSTO and I think it really gave us serious privileges,” Vigen Sargsyan said.

He stressed that Khachaturov’s appointment as CSTO secretary general was significant considering his participation in Karabakh war as well.

“Armenia has always been an active role-maker in the CSTO and had a weighty position. I think it was a value and I have a big hope that PM Pashinyan’s words that Armenia will not change its political vector are real otherwise we will face rather serious issues,” Sargsyan said.

At the November session in Astana, president of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev offered to pass the position of the CSTO secretary general to Belarus which is the next in turn after Armenia. Meanwhile the post of the secretary general in the establishment belongs to Armenia until 2020.

The heads of the CSTO members states will make final decision on CSTO secretary general post on December 6 in St. Petersburg.