Zahharova Comments on Pashinyan's Statements Regarding 'Freezing' Membership in CSTO

The accusations from the Armenian authorities are absolutely unacceptable, especially in light of the well-known events that occurred in the region during 2021-2022, regarding CSTO's supposed failure to fulfill its mandate and obligations towards Yerevan. This was stated by Maria Zakharova, the official spokesperson of the Russian Foreign Ministry, during a briefing, in response to Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's announcement about the ‘freezing’ of Armenia's membership in the CSTO.

“I would like to remind that in September 2022, at the request of Yerevan, a CSTO assessment mission was quickly formed and sent to the border areas. Based on its findings, a decision was prepared for the deployment of a CSTO monitoring mission in Armenia. It is not due to us or the other CSTO members’ fault that this balanced decision, which implied providing military-technical assistance to the country and a number of other measures, was rejected by the Armenian authorities under contrived pretenses. Moreover, Yerevan decided to demonstratively invite fake observers from the European Union. The well-known facts leave no doubt about the zero effectiveness of these representatives’ work.

We proceed from the fact that Armenia remains a full-fledged member of the CSTO with all the rights and obligations that stem from this status. We regret to note that the dynamics of Yerevan's participation in activities has decreased, which obviously does not serve the interests of the friendly Armenian people and the requirements of ensuring the country's security. We hope that Yerevan will understand that the existing concerns must be discussed and resolved in a calm and trusting environment of dialogue, rather than being continually brought into the public domain chaotically.

If the CSTO has supposedly exited Armenia, as claimed by the Armenian authorities, then how can Armenia freeze its membership in the CSTO?” she noted.

It is worth reminding that Pashinyan stated in an interview with French media that Armenia has 'frozen' its membership in the CSTO.