Indestructible Brotherhood-2019 in Tajikistan. (CSTO)

Amid full-scale war in Nagorny Karabakh, Armenia refuses to take part in Russian-led military exercises “Indestructible Brotherhood-2020″, which will be held in Belarus in mid-October, the Armenian Defense Ministry stated Monday.

The exercises are dedicated to carrying out peacekeeping missions. It is scheduled on October 12 to 16 at the Losvido training ground in Belarus.

The exercises are being planned in the frames of Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), or ODKB after its Russian abbreviation, which is presided by Russia. Several former Soviet republics – Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan – are its members. Armenia is also part of the organization.

CSTO was conceived soon after USSR collapse as a counterweight of NATO. Although Armenia is its member, the treaty doesn’t cover territories outside its internationally recognized borders, i.e. Karabakh.