On June 12, Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan officially confirmed for the first time that his country will withdraw from the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO).
Points of attention
- Pashinyan's decision increases the tension in relations with Russia, which controls the CSTO.
- The Prime Minister accused Russian President Putin of conspiring and starting a war against Armenia.
- Pashinyan declared Russia's non-fulfillment of contractual obligations in the CSTO.
- The Prime Minister promises that Armenia will not return to the CSTO and will look for other ways to ensure the country's security.
Armenia will no longer be a member of the CSTO
What is important to understand is that the Collective Security Treaty Organization is a military alliance de facto controlled by the Russian Federation.
Thus, Nikol Pashinyan once again publicly challenged the illegitimate president of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin.
Moreover, he accused the dictator of conspiring and starting a war against Armenia.
According to journalists, this happened after one of the Armenian oppositionists asked Pashinyan about possibly leaving the CSTO.
The country's prime minister immediately began complaining that some members of this alliance (Russia — ed.) did not fulfil their contractual obligations.
They (the Russians — ed.) planned a war against us together with Azerbaijan... We will leave (the CSTO. — Ed.) and decide when.
Nikol Pashinyan
Prime Minister of Armenia
The country's leader also assured that his country will not return to the CSTO.
Do you think we will go back? No, there is no other way. Don't worry, we won't go back, he promised.
Why Pashinyan is breaking ties with Russia
A month ago, Nikol Pashinyan stated that at least two member states of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) were helping Azerbaijan prepare for the war against Armenia, which began in 2020.
As journalists later found out, he alluded to the Russian Federation and Belarus.
I know of at least two CSTO countries that participated in the preparation of war against us. Those countries pretended to help, or allegedly helped. But I want to say that the issue in the war was not even about Karabakh... The purpose of the war was to end the existence of the independent state of Armenia, the politician complained.
According to him, similar attempts did not stop even after the main phase of the war in 2020 — in May 2021, September 2022 and 2023, but were unsuccessful.
