The Collective Security Treaty Organization anticipates that Armenia will soon clarify its membership status and relations with the organization.
Earlier this year, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced that Armenia would freeze its membership in the Russia-led security organization due to what he and other government officials called the CSTO’s failure to meet its mandate when Azerbaijan breached Armenia’s sovereign borders and invaded territories in May 2021 and September 2022.
“We expect the political leadership of Armenia to clarify the prospects of its relations with the CSTO. It would be useful for all participants of our organization—first of all, in terms of planning of future joint activities,” the CSTO Secretary-Gerantl Imangli Tasmagambetov said during the group’s parliamentary assembly being held in Almaty, Kazakhstan on Monday, the Tass news agency reported.
Armenia did not attend the assembly nor a summit of CSTO defense ministers.
The CSTO Secretary General noted that, “during the last year, our colleagues from Armenia have considerably reduced their participation in the organization’s events.”
“Nevertheless, quite basic mechanisms of interaction are functioning. The Republic of Armenia remains a full member of the organization, all obligations toward that country are fully maintained,” Tasmagambetov insisted.
Armenia’s foreign ministry last month announced that Yerevan would stop making its financial contributions to the group, a move scoffed at by Russia, which accused the Armenian government of undermining the security of the region by aligning itself with the European Union and other Western states, including the United States.
“The military-political situation in the world continues to undergo a profound transformation. The potential for conflict is growing in a number of regions directly adjacent to the CSTO area of responsibility,” Tasmagambetov also said in remarks, according to an official statement from the bloc.
Expressing that the situation in Eastern Europe and the Middle East is of serious concern for the alliance, Tasmagambetov said the internal political situation in Afghanistan remains complex, while “tangible risks” remain in the South Caucasus.
“The CSTO is a key factor in maintaining stability in the Eurasian space, capable of ensuring the security of the organization’s member states,” he said.
