MOSCOW, November 11. /TASS/. The leaders of the CSTO member states decided at their summit in Moscow to deprive Armenia of its voting rights, and Yerevan will also no longer be able to nominate its representatives to responsible positions in the organization. The decision to apply Article 25 of the CSTO Charter was approved during the meeting.
TASS has compiled the main facts known about the situation.
Decision
- The leaders of the CSTO member states decided at the summit in Moscow to deprive Armenia of its voting rights.
- It was also decided that Armenia would be deprived of the right to nominate its representatives for responsible positions in the organization.
- The decision was made due to Armenia's failure to fulfill "obligations to repay the debt to the organization’s budget for two years."
- The decision to apply Article 25 of the CSTO Charter was approved.
- CSTO Secretary General Taalatbek Masadykov said that the expelling Armenia from the organization was not discussed.
Kremlin's statements
- At the CSTO summit, a decision was made to deprive Armenia of its voting rights, said Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
- Peskov noted that the decision was made "because Armenia has not been fulfilling its obligations for several years."
- According to him, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has previously "repeatedly stated that Armenia has lost interest in participating in the CSTO."
- The day before Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that the door to the Collective Security Treaty Organization is "not being slammed shut" on Yerevan, and that Armenia will not be expelled from the CSTO.
- He noted that Armenia will retain the right to ensure collective security within the framework of the CSTO even if a decision is made to deprive Yerevan of its voting rights in the organization over the arrears.
Armenia’s position
- Earlier, Pashinyan said he supports the republic’s expulsion from the CSTO and would be pleased if that happened.
- According to him, the country does not intend to intensify its work within the CSTO over the next five years, and Armenia’s interest in the CSTO has waned.
- In September 2024, Pashinyan said that Yerevan had frozen its participation in CSTO’s work, as, according to him, the organization had created threats to the republic’s sovereignty.
- In 2024, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan said that Yerevan is assessing all the risks associated with the decision to withdraw from the CSTO.
- In December of the same year, the Armenian prime minister said that relations between Armenia and the CSTO had passed the point of no return.