YEREVAN, January 15. /TASS/. Armenia views its decision to suspend membership in the Collective Security Organization (CSTO) as correct given the position taken by the organization's members, Armenian Defense Minister Suren Papikyan said.
"Until our partners in the CSTO change their position and attitude, our position and attitude remain legitimate and based on Armenia’s interests," he noted.
According to the Armenian authorities, Yerevan suspended its membership in the CSTO not because of Nagorno-Karabakh, but because of the lack of a "proper reaction to the external aggression against the sovereign Armenian border in 2021 and 2022."
Earlier, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan claimed that the CSTO allegedly created a threat to the republic’s sovereignty and announced that Yerevan was suspending its membership in the organization. In December, Pashinyan announced that relations between Armenia and the CSTO had passed the point of no return. However, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov noted that Yerevan has not filed any paperwork regarding its withdrawal from the CSTO yet. He underscored that member states have the sovereign right to make such decisions, but expressed his certainty that it is in Armenia’s interest to make the most of its membership in this organization.