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Armenia is not seeking NATO membership, says acting PM

Nikol Pashinyan recalled that the country has relations with NATO, linked with peacekeeping missions, including in Kosovo and Afghanistan

YEREVAN, December 10. /TASS/. Being a member of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), a post-Soviet security bloc, Armenia is not seeking to join NATO but will maintain relations with that alliance, Armenia’s acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said on Monday.

"We have relations with NATO, which are linked with peacekeeping missions, including in Kosovo and Afghanistan. And we will continue this cooperation. But we are not seeking to obtain NATO membership," he said. "We are a member of the CSTO."

Pashinyan has repeatedly said that his country was not aspiring for NATO membership, being committed to its international liabilities. He pledged that Armenia will continue as a member of the CSTO and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU). Notably, Tigran Sarkisyan of Armenia has been chairing the Eurasian Economic Commission’s board since 2016.

Early parliamentary elections were held in Armenia on December 9. Pashinyan’s bloc, My Step, won a convincing victory with 70.43% of votes. Two more parties, Prosperous Armenia and Armenian Renaissance also won seats in the country’s legislature with 8.27 and 6.37% of the vote, respectively.