Kremlin urges Armenia to clarify statements on freezing CSTO membership

Press secretary of the Russian president Dmitry Peskov has said that Armenia has not sent official notifications regarding the process of freezing membership in the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO).

“The Armenian side did not take any official actions in this regard. We intend to talk to our colleagues and clarify these statements,” he said, according to TASS.

Earlier, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that Armenia had suspended its participation in the CSTO.

The CSTO Secretariat told Sputnik on February 23 that it had not received any notices from Yerevan on the suspension of its CSTO membership.

In an interview with France 24 broadcast on February 22, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that Armenia had frozen its participation in the Russian-led security bloc.

"The Collective Security Treaty has not fulfilled its objectives as far as Armenia is concerned, particularly in 2021 and 2022. And we could not let that happen without taking notice," Pashinyan said through an interpreter.

"We have now in practical terms frozen our participation in this treaty. As for what comes next, we shall have to see."

"To date, the CSTO Secretariat has not received any notices from Yerevan on the suspension of its CSTO membership. As for the thesis on the participation freezing, it seems that we are talking about Armenia’s non-participation in several events that have been held by the organisation recently," the secretariat said.