Putin’s phone call with Armenian PM before CSTO summit not planned — Kremlin

Russian Politics & Diplomacy November 17, 2023, 22:36

According to Putin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov, Nikol Pashinyan will not come to Minsk

ST. PETERSBURG, November 17. /TASS/. There are no plans to organize a phone call between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan before the summit of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), a Russia-led security bloc, Putin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov said on Friday.

"No, no such plans so far, but the summit is yet to be held," he said. "As far as I know Pashinyan will not come to Minsk. The Armenian side will be represented at another level."

The CSTO summit will be held in Minsk on November 23. Pashinyan said that he would not take part in the CSTO summit during his phone call with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. He expressed the hope that the partners would understand this decision.

Earlier, both Pashinyan and Armenian foreign ministry officials repeatedly stressed that Yerevan was not looking at withdrawing from the CSTO but it recent months Armenia has been skipping the organization’s events. Moreover, Armenia has recalled its ambassador to the CSTO and has not appointed a new one.

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