Zakhrova Comments on Pashinyan's Statement Regarding CSTO

The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakhrova, has commented on Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s statement that the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) is leaving Armenia.

During a press conference held on March 14, Prime Minister Pashinyan stated that it is not Armenia that is leaving the CSTO, but rather, ‘regardless of whether it wants to or not, the organization is leaving Armenia,’ a circumstance that concerns Yerevan.

“When I read this, for some reason, I remembered two other quotes: ‘Who is standing on whom’ (Bulgakov) and ‘One must love the art in oneself, not oneself in the art’ (Stanislavski). I leave this part of the question for your further elaboration, try to understand what this is about,” said Zakhrova.

She noted that on September 13 and October 28, 2022, extraordinary sessions of the CSTO Collective Security Council were held, with CSTO Secretary General Stanislav Zas and a delegation led by the chief of the CSTO Joint Staff Anatoly Sidorov visiting Armenia.

The Russian diplomat reminded that a plan for expanding the CSTO monitoring mission in Armenia had been prepared, and the drafting of a corresponding decision had been practically completed during a meeting of the organization’s statutory bodies in Yerevan.

“However, due to certain demands from our Armenian colleagues, which were problematic for other CSTO members, that decision was ultimately not adopted,” Zakhrova added.

It is worth noting that at the beginning of January, Prime Minister Pashinyan announced that Armenia refused to host the CSTO Rapid Reaction Collective Force exercise ‘Indestructible Brotherhood-2023’ on its territory. Furthermore, on March 10, it became known that Armenia had formally applied to the CSTO to refuse its quota for the Deputy Secretary General position.