Russia waiting for Armenia's final decision on membership in CSTO FM Lavrov says

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that the statements by Armenia alleging the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) has left Yerevan "in trouble" in the conflict with Baku does not reflect the reality.

"One of the main accusations is... that it was Russia that pushed Azerbaijan to start a war in September 2020. These are ungrateful assessments because it was the Russian Federation that stopped this war," Lavrov emphasized, TASS reports.

According to him, "the statement that the CSTO left Armenia in trouble is also untrue."

The Minister noted that the CSTO responded to Yerevan's request and sent a mission of experts, which proposed to deploy a peacekeeping mission in Armenia on the border with Azerbaijan.

Lavrov also said that the Russian Federation is waiting for Armenia to announce a final decision on its membership in the CSTO.

The Russian diplomat expressed regret that Yerevan has decided to pursue a line of deteriorating relations with Moscow. In his opinion, this is not ally-like. Lavrov also added that Yerevan has decided to bet on extra-regional states that are cajole Armenia to cut ties with Russia.