NA Member: Armenia  not discussing membership in another security  organization

ArmInfo. Artur Hovhannisyan, a member of the ruling Civil Contract faction in the  National Assembly, stated he would like to hear comments from CSTO  partners regarding the reasons behind Armenia's special stance on the  organization.

Speaking to reporters on August 17, the MP noted that he does not  intend to comment on statements made by CSTO official representatives  regarding Armenia, as the Armenian side's stance has already been  clearly stated on numerous occasions. "We froze our participation in  the Organization because it failed to fulfill its obligations to the  Republic of Armenia during the attack on the country's sovereign  territory. Essentially, the CSTO does not recognize the borders of  our state under which the country joined the CSTO. This problem,  unfortunately, has still not been resolved," the MP noted, commenting  on the possibility of Yerevan being stripped of its voting rights in  the Organization for non-payment of membership dues, including  expulsion.

Hovhannisyan noted that Armenia's reaction to such a possibility will  depend on what decision is ultimately made. " Armenia will express  its position on the issue of the country's expulsion from the CSTO  when such discussions take place and decisions are made. There are no  such discussions at the moment. Our decision right now is to freeze  our membership in the CSTO, hoping that there is still some  percentage of a chance that the arising problems can be resolved. If  not, we will act in accordance with Armenia's state interests,"  Hovhannisyan said, adding that Armenia is de facto no longer a member  of the CSTO, and the Organization is not a security guarantor for the  republic. The MP also assured that Armenia is not discussing the  issue of joining any other security organization.  .  Earlier,  Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov announced that CSTO countries  would consider applying the relevant article of the organization's  charter to Armenia due to Yerevan's failure to pay its dues for more  than two years.