Armenia was not on a list of countries expected to participate in joint military exercises organized by the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization, the Tass news agency reported.
There was no official government statement about the exercises.
The CSTO exercises, called “Cobalt 2024,” will be held under the leadership of the Russian National Guard from August 14 to 16 in Russian city of Novosibirsk, the group’s press service told Tass.
“On August 14, 2024, under the leadership of the Federal Service of the National Guard of the Russian Federation, in the Novosibirsk region, on the base of the department’s training center, the opening of the Cobalt-2024 exercise will take place, with the participation of the command and control units of the CSTO rapid response collective forces and special purpose units. The exercises will end on August 16,” the statement said.
The department noted that the event will be attended by representatives of the ministries and departments of CSTO member states, Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.
Earlier this year, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced that Armenia has frozen its participation in the CSTO, of which Armenia is a member. The move came as protest to what Yerevan describes as the security bloc’s inaction and lack of response when Armenia was under attack by Azerbaijan. Pashinyan and other government officials said the CSTO’s charter was violated.
Pashinyan also accused two of the CSTO member states of overtly supporting Azerbaijan during the 2020 Artsakh War. While he did not name the two countries, his statements suggested that he was referring to Belarus and Russia.
Both Minks and Yerevan recalled their ambassadors in what is seen as a continuing stalemate between the two CSTO member states.
Moscow has blasted Yerevan for its decision to freeze its membership in the security bloc, with Deputy Prime Minister Mikhail Overchuk warning that Yerevan’s continued tilt toward the European Union and the United States could jeopardize the security of the South Caucasus and alienate Armenia from other blocs, such as the Eurasian Economic Union, which is currently being chaired by Armenia.
Last month’s announcement by the EU, that it will provide 10 million euros in military assistance to Armenia, coupled with substantive military aid from France, have angered Moscow.
The CSTO exercises will take place a month after the U.S. and Armenia held joint military drills near Yerevan, another move that has fueled the growing impasse between Armenia and Russia.
