Armenia Continues to be a Full Member of CSTO: Zakharova

Armenia continues to be a full member of the CSTO. This was stated today by Maria Zakharova, the head of the press service of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, during a weekly briefing.

"I know of only one member among the CSTO member countries that speaks about leaving the CSTO, withdrawing from the CSTO, one participant is leaving, and one is freezing. We only hear this from the authorities in Yerevan. The fact is that Armenia continues to be a full member of CSTO. Among other things, the CSTO Charter, as well as the relevant protocol signed by the leaders in 2011, stipulates that a CSTO member state can make decisions regarding the deployment of third-country troops and external infrastructure on its territory only after urgent consultations with the other member states of the union," she said.

Regarding the potential consequences for a state in case of violation of obligations within the organization, Zakharova noted that these are also clearly recorded. "This could involve the cessation of that state's participation in the activities of CSTO bodies by a decision of the Collective Security Council, and there may also be exclusion from the union," she added.