Playing with words may not lead to anything good - Maria Zakharova 

ArmInfo.Yerevan de jure remains a full member of the CSTO and retains the corresponding rights and obligations. This was stated by the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova during a weekly briefing on September 4, referring to Armenia's statement "on freezing" work in all CSTO bodies.

"I read Armenia's statements on this matter every time, including  regarding CSTO membership. I noticed that they seemed to have  recently stated that the CSTO had left the territory of Armenia, and  then they began to state that they had "frozen" within this  organization. I would like to understand who is in whom - this is  first of all," the Russian diplomat noted.

At the same time, Zakharova expressed her conviction that behind  every phrase uttered by an official there should be not only meaning,  but also responsibility, especially for the consequences of what was  said.  Secondly, according to her, Yerevan de jure remains a full  member of the CSTO and retains the corresponding rights and  obligations.

"In fact, now the leadership of Armenia is adhering to the line of  moving away from such interaction, which, in our opinion, is contrary  to the interests of the Armenian people. We hope that in the  interests of the future security of Armenia itself, and the entire  region as a whole, our partnership with Armenia within the CSTO will  be fully resumed," Zakharova noted, adding that playing with words  "may not lead to anything good." 

According to her, this is especially true if we consider that the  region has already gone through many trials.  Recall that in February  2024, Nikol Pashinyan stated in an interview with France 24 that  Armenia's participation in the Collective Security Treaty  Organization (CSTO) was frozen. On March 12, 2024, Nikol Pashinyan  stated that Armenia would withdraw from the CSTO if the organization  did not fulfill its obligations. 

At this stage, Armenia does not participate in the work of the  Organization at any level. In May of this year, the press secretary  of the RA MFA Ani Badalyan stated that Yerevan would refrain from  joining the decision of the CSTO Collective Security Council of  November 23, 2023 "On the CSTO budget for 2024" and from  participating in the financing of the Organization's activities  provided for by this decision. And Moscow emphasized that Yerevan's  financial obligations will remain.