Russia said that dates for deploying peacekeepers from the Collective Security Treaty Organization to Armenia must be decided by the Yerevan authorities, as the group is prepared to send the mission, Asbarez reported.

“The ball is in Yerevan’s court,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova told a press briefing on Wednesday.

Zakharova cited a recent statement by Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov who said that Russia is satisfied with Armenia’s continued interest in receiving CSTO peacekeepers. “Moscow is convinced that this step will contribute to the stabilization of the situation in the region. Both Russia and other allies are ready for it,” said the spokesperson.

“Such decisions are coordinated and adopted in the CSTO and approved at a high level. When our Armenian partners are ready, the parties will be able to return to the work of strengthening the specific types of the observation mission of the organization,” Zakharova explained.

Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan said during a joint press conference with Lavrov in Moscow on March 20 that the draft decision to send a CSTO mission is on the table, and work on the draft continues. At the same time, Yerevan said that it expects a political assessment from its partners regarding Azerbaijan’s September aggression.

A senior CSTO official said that the organization is “always ready” to deploy a mission to Armenia.