CSTO Mission Holds Meeting With Armenian Security Council

YEREVAN (Sputnik) - The mission of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) headed by its Secretary General Stanislav Zas has started work in Yerevan and held the first meeting with Armenian Security Council Secretary Armen Grigoryan, a Sputnik correspondent reported on Wednesday.

The mission includes representatives of CSTO member states who are employees of the organization's working bodies. It will study and monitor current situation in border areas, as well as hold meetings with the highest political and military leadership of Armenia

On Tuesday, CSTO spokesman Vladimir Zainetdinov said that the mission has been tasked with assessing current situation, preparing a detailed report for the heads of CSTO member states and developing proposals for de-escalating the tension that has arisen on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border.

The mission's frontline group headed by the head of CSTO Joint Staff, Col. Gen. Anatoly Sidorov, completed its work in Armenia on Monday.

Hostilities broke out on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border in the early hours of September 13, in an area unrelated to the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. Azerbaijan said it started an offensive responding to an Armenian "provocation." Armenia said Azerbaijani forces shelled Armenian civilian towns with no military infrastructure, including the resort town of Jermuk.

Both countries agreed to a ceasefire later on September 13, which failed overnight. Another ceasefire went into effect late on September 14.