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No requests on Armenia’s possible suspension within organization — CSTO chief

"Nevertheless, the organization keeps operating in full volume, all procedures are observed in full compliance with the CSTO regulatory framework," Imangali Tasmagambetov said
Secretary General of the CSTO Imangali Tasmagambetov Valery Sharifulin/ TASS
Secretary General of the CSTO Imangali Tasmagambetov
© Valery Sharifulin/ TASS

MOSCOW, March 12. /TASS/. Yerevan did not participate lately in the work of the Collective Security Treaty Organization’s (CSTO) Secretariat, but there have been no official requests on the suspension of Armenia's membership in the organization, CSTO Secretary General Imangali Tasmagambetov told TASS.

"It is true that Yerevan has not participated in the work of the CSTO Secretariat recently," he said. "This is Armenia's decision at the current stage, and we, as an international organization, respect any decision on behalf of a sovereign state."

"Nevertheless, the organization keeps operating in full volume, all procedures are observed in full compliance with the CSTO regulatory framework," Tasmagambetov continued. "The [CSTO] Secretariat keeps constantly informing relevant structures in Yerevan about the decisions, which have been already made or are still on the agenda."

"Regarding the previously made statements by Armenian officials, I would like to point out that the [CSTO] Secretariat did not receive from Yerevan any official requests on the suspension of its membership in the organization," he added.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said in an interview with France 24 last month that Armenia had suspended its participation in the CSTO. The organization’s Secretariat, however, said that Armenia did not notify them about this. Yerevan skipped a range of recent meetings in integration formats. Thus, Pashinyan did not take part in the CSTO summit in Minsk last November.

Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said earlier that Moscow maintained contacts with Yerevan to clarify the statements made by Prime Minister Pashinyan regarding the Moscow-led security bloc.