During his meeting with the ministers of the defense and the chairman of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) Nikolay Bordyuzhin the President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan stated that the tragic events in South Ossetia showed that the military way of resolving conflicts is futile and that the events in South Ossetia will have a sobering impact on those who still have illusions about forcible solutions. “The tragic events in South Ossetia showed that a military response to self-determination movements in the South Caucasus is fraught with serious military and geopolitical consequences,” he said. They also underscored the need to settle regional ethnic conflicts on the basis of the principle of nations’ self-determination, added Sargsyan. Sargsyan for the first time publicly drew parallels between the conflicts in Karabakh and South Ossetia and criticized Georgia for its August 8 military assault on the breakaway territory, which triggered a harsh Russian retaliation. “The tragic events in South Ossetia showed that a military response to self-determination movements in the South Caucasus is fraught with serious military and geopolitical consequences,” he said. According to the Armenian president a humanitarian disaster occurred in the region. Therefore, a lot of efforts are necessary to input in the regulation of the consequences. “We welcome the initiatives of the Russian President Sergey Medvedev and the French President Nicolas Sarkozie aimed at the development of the 6 principles. These are grounds for the regulation of the conflict and settlement of peace in the region,” he said and reminded that Armenia expressed its willingness to be a humanitarian corridor. “We are also ready to offer our own humanitarian aid to the suffered ones,” added Sargsyan.
