CSTO Secretary General: Armenia has "de facto" withdrawn from the military alliance

ArmInfo. Armenia has de facto withdrawn from the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), Secretary General Taalatbek Masadykov stated in an interview with TASS.

According to him, the CSTO continues to send documents to Armenia, but the Armenian side does not participate in their discussions or decision-making. At the same time, Yerevan does not hinder the organization's work and does not object to decisions made by other states.

"They listen to weekly reports, but do not participate in our main events, exercises, and the like. Therefore, I think Article 25 [of the CSTO Charter] is relevant here. In principle, they have already de facto withdrawn," Masadykov noted.

Masadykov stated that the heads of CSTO member states may consider Armenia's membership on November 11 at a meeting of the Collective Security Council in Moscow. According to him, the relevant proposal could be made by the country holding the presidency or another member state of the organization.

He also explained that, according to Article 25 of the CSTO Charter, a country has no voting rights if it fails to pay membership dues and fill quota positions. At the same time, an Armenian representative participates weekly in meetings of the organization's Permanent Council, where various issues and possible solutions are discussed.

As a reminder, Armenia has been boycotting CSTO events since the end of 2022. In February 2024, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated that Armenia had effectively frozen its participation in the CSTO, as the organization had failed to fulfill its obligations to Armenia, which could not go without consequences. And on September 18, 2024, at the Second World Armenian Summit, Pashinyan stated that the CSTO poses threats to Armenia's security, its continued existence, sovereignty, and statehood.