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Armenian Leader Again Threatens To Leave Russian-Led Defense Bloc

Meeting of the Council of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Collective Security Treaty Organization in Minsk -18 May 2023 (State Duma of the Russian Federation)

March 12, 2024

By RFE/RL's Armenian Service

YEREVAN -- Armenia will leave the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) if its lingering security concerns are not addressed by the Russian-led military alliance, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian warned again on March 12.

Pashinian, who has led the South Caucasian country since 2018, said the CSTO must first and foremost clarify its "zone of responsibility" in Armenia and pledge to defend it against foreign aggression.

"If the CSTO answers these questions and its answers correspond to our expectations, it will mean that the problems between Armenia and the CSTO have been solved," he told a news conference. "If not, Armenia will leave the CSTO. When? I can't tell."

Yerevan has boycotted high-level meetings, military exercises, and other activities of the CSTO over the past year in what Pashinian described last month as an effective suspension of Armenia's membership in the alliance of six ex-Soviet states. On February 28, the Armenian premier also threatened to pull his country out of the CSTO, saying it is becoming a security threat to his country.

In an interview with the Russian TASS news agency published earlier on March 12, CSTO Secretary-General Imangali Tasmagambetov said Armenia has not yet notified the organization about the suspension of its membership and therefore "remains our ally." At the same time, he expressed concern at "certain events and sentiments among a part of the Armenian elite."

"But we hope for the political sobriety of the political leadership of Armenia and a balanced assessment of prospects for the implementation of various scenarios in relation to the organization," added Tasmagambetov.

The Armenian government had asked Russia and other CSTO allies for military support after Azerbaijan launched an attack along the Armenian-Azerbaijani border in September 2022.

Article 4 of the 2002 Collective Security Treaty states that any aggression against one signatory would be perceived as aggression against all. Aside from Russia and Armenia, the other signatories of the treaty are Belarus, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan.

Armenia accused Russia and the CSTO of ignoring its request for military support. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the CSTO had agreed in November 2022 to send a "peacekeeping mission of observers" to the border but Pashinian rejected it. Yerevan also declined CSTO offers to provide it with "military-technical assistance," Lavrov claimed.

Leading Armenian opposition groups contend that an exit from the CSTO and a breakup of Armenia’s broader military alliance with Russia would create a dangerous security vacuum that cannot be filled by Western powers and would only encourage Azerbaijan to launch new attacks. Azerbaijan has more than three times the population of Armenia and a defense budget that is larger than Armenia’s entire budget.

During the March 12 press conference, Pashinian said Armenia has "informed" Moscow that the service of Russian border guards at Yerevan's Zvartnots international airport will end by August 1. Armenian border guards will replace them.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov later confirmed that Moscow had received Armenia's notification. Russian media quoted Peskov as saying that there were ongoing "contacts" between relevant departments of Russia and Armenia at the moment.

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