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The Armenian parliament speaker on Friday pointed to Russian peacekeepers “inaction” following Azerbaijan’s takeover of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) which triggered a mass exodus of its Armenian population in mid-September.

"Are you now expecting the National Assembly speaker to make accusations against a neighboring state? I will not make such a statement," the speaker, Alen Simonyan, told reporters in response to a question whether Russia incited Azerbaijan to launch military operations against Armenia.

"I think that the Armenian public and the Nagorno-Karabakh population are well aware of the state of affairs. Remember the frustration, the hopelessness in Nagorno-Karabakh. Do you remember the letters Z, the posters featuring Putin's photo and reading "Thank you, Russia!"? All that changed overnight, and we saw the inaction of Russian peacekeepers who withdrew the Armenian population from Nagorno-Karabakh," Simonyan said.

Nevertheless, the speaker states Russia remains Armenia’s ally. "We are making efforts so that the ally starts to fulfill its obligations at least at some point," he noted.

Simonyan says that Armenia’s attitude towards the CSTO will change when the organization declares that the Azerbaijani armed forces are stationed on sovereign Armenian territory, which is within the CSTO zone of responsibility, and demand their withdrawal from Armenian lands.

“The CSTO does not function if it fails to defend its area of responsibility,” the top official stressed.