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Armenian parliament speaker to skip CSTO Parliamentary Assembly meeting in Moscow

The Armenian parliamentary delegation will also not take part in the meeting

YEREVAN, December 5. /TASS/. Armenian Parliament Speaker Alen Simonyan will not participate in the session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO PA) to be held in Moscow on December 19, his press secretary, Tsovinar Khachatryan, said.

"Alen Simonyan will not attend the CSTO meeting in Moscow. He has informed [Russian] State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin about this [decision] by official letter. The Armenian parliamentary delegation will also not take part in the meeting," the speaker said in a statement published on the parliament's website.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan did not attend the CSTO summit in Minsk on November 23. Armenia's foreign and defense ministers also eschewed attending the events in the Belarusian capital. In addition, Yerevan recalled its ambassador to the CSTO and has not appointed a replacement.

Commenting on Yerevan's refusal to participate in the CSTO events in Minsk, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Moscow expects Armenia to continue its work in the organization.

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