Russian Foreign Ministry says Armenia not leaving CSTO

According to Viktor Vasilyev, the Russian Foreign Ministry's ambassador-at-large for CSTO affairs, Armenia's withdrawal from the CSTO is not on the agenda today.

Caliber.Az reports quoting him as saying that the CSTO's attention today is focused on the implementation of the decisions of the CSTO's Collective Security Council meeting in November 2023, and all the bloc's countries are involved in this work.

"The documents adopted at the aforementioned session of the CSTO Collective Security Council, skipped by Armenia, are now being considered in Yerevan. Some of these documents have the approval of the Armenian side. Therefore, we can conclude that there is no question of Armenia's withdrawal from the CSTO," Vasilyev said.

In response to a question about Yerevan's non-participation in CSTO events, the diplomat noted that this was the decision of the Armenian leadership, although it was under pressure.

"In many respects, this situation is the result both of pressure from the West and of understandable emotions on the part of the leadership and the population of Armenia," he noted.

Vasilyev said he hoped that, sooner or later, reason would prevail over emotion.

The CSTO includes six countries - Armenia, Belarus, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.