Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says the CSTO has not received any document on Armenia’s withdrawal from the organization.
“No such document has been received. We hear these conversations, the Prime Minister of Armenia has spoken and discussed this topic in parliament at length. We are not imposing anything on anyone. We are convinced that it is in the interests of Armenia’s security to make maximum use of CSTO membership,” Lavrov said at a press conference.
The Russian Foreign Minister said if such decision is made, it is the sovereign right of the Armenian leadership.
“Russia and other CSTO members have not taken and are not going to take any actions that would be perceived as closing the door to Yerevan,” Lavrov added.
Relations between Armenia and the CSTO have crossed the ‘point of no return,’ Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said during a Q&A session at the National Assembly on Wednesday.
Pashinyan also reacted to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s recent statement that “events in Nagorno Karabakh had nothing to do with CSTO and that “there was no direct aggression against Armenia.”
The Armenian Prime Minister said Yerevan froze its participation not because of Nagorno-Karabakh, but because of the lack of an appropriate response to external aggression on the borders of sovereign Armenia in 2021 and 2022.
