Procedure for Armenia`s withdrawal from CSTO was not discussed at  meeting of Council of Foreign Ministers of Organization`s member  states in Almaty - Lavrov

ArmInfo.The procedure for Armenia's withdrawal from the CSTO was not discussed at the meeting  of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization's member states in Almaty. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated at a press conference following the meeting of the CSTO Council of Foreign Ministers on June 21 in Almaty.

"I will say right away, no, the procedure for Armenia's withdrawal  from the CSTO was not discussed, because no such request was  received," he noted.

When asked what the consequences of Armenia's withdrawal from the  CSTO might be, Lavrov noted that guessing "if only" is not in the  traditions of diplomacy. "As I already said, today the Armenian  minister was not present at the meeting, but there was no document  from Armenia, no official step that would make it necessary to  discuss the consequences of what did not happen," the Russian Foreign  Minister noted. As ArmInfo reported on June 19, Armenian Foreign  Minister Ararat Mirzoyan will not participate in the Council of CSTO  Foreign Ministers in Almaty. Back in February, Armenia announced that  it was freezing CSTO membership and refused to pay membership fees in  this regard. On June 12, the Armenian Prime Minister also did not  rule out from the parliamentary rostrum that Yerevan could leave the  CSTO in the future.