Armenia’s Parliamentary Speaker Alen Simonyan has said that the country has ‘de facto’ left the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO), despite earlier assurances from the Foreign Ministry that no formal withdrawal was on the agenda.
Simonyan made the remarks on Wednesday while speaking to reporters in parliament.
He said that Armenia’s decision to sit out the CSTO summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan reflected the current state of relations with the bloc.
‘We are de facto out’, he said. ‘As for the rest, leave it to our political expediency and our negotiations’.
His remarks came two days after Yuri Ushakov, an aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin, confirmed that Armenia’s delegation would not participate in the Bishkek meeting, though Yerevan had not objected to the adoption of agreed documents.
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Following that, on Tuesday, Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Mnatsakan Safaryan told journalists that the issue of withdrawal is ‘not on the Foreign Ministry’s agenda’. Safaryan said Armenia’s position ‘has already been declared’, emphasising that Yerevan is refraining from engaging in CSTO activities while not blocking documents agreed to by other member states.
‘Armenia conducts its foreign policy based on interests, according to the situation that is created. Armenia’s balancing policy has been announced, and Armenia makes decisions within that framework,’ Safaryan said, noting that the Foreign Ministry has not been instructed to begin withdrawal procedures.
‘Such a task has not been put before us yet. If such developments occur, everyone will know,’ he added.
Armenia announced in February 2024 that it had frozen its participation in the CSTO, accusing the organisation of failing to respond to security concerns following clashes with Azerbaijan on their shared border.
https://oc-media.org/pashinyan-armenia-has-frozen-its-participation-in-the-csto/
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said Armenia could consider leaving the bloc altogether unless the CSTO clarified its ‘area of responsibility’ in Armenia. Yerevan later stopped financing the organisation, and Pashinyan declared in June that withdrawal would be the ‘next logical step’. In September, he said Armenia had reached a point ‘close to irreversibility’ in its relations with the CSTO.
The Kremlin has repeatedly rejected accusations that the CSTO had undermined Armenian sovereignty, insisting that the bloc poses ‘no threat’ to member states.
Arshaluys Barseghyan
Simonyan also told reporters he is prepared to travel to Azerbaijan ‘at an appropriate time’ and would be willing to invite his Azerbaijani counterpart to Armenia in any suitable format. He added that he has not previously received an invitation to visit Baku but would ‘consider it’ if one were issued.
He added that Azerbaijani authorities have confirmed that 23 Armenian captives remain in custody, noting that Armenia had had as many as 200 detainees after the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War in 2020.
‘I am confident that one day the number will reach zero,’ he said.
Simonyan emphasised that the government ‘has done and will do everything’ to secure the return of all Armenian prisoners, including former officials from Nagorno-Karabakh held in Baku.
‘Everyone will return, without exception,’ he said. ‘We know what efforts are being made in all directions.’
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