Russia Responds to Pashinyan's Remarks on CSTO

If Armenia does not pay its contribution to the CSTO budget by the end of 2025, the member countries of the organization "may consider various scenarios," but it is unlikely that anyone will be expelled, stated Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Pankin to RIA Novosti.

“By January of next year, Yerevan will have a two-year debt, but there have been cases where countries have had debts due to technical, financial, and other reasons,” he noted.

Pankin emphasized that there have indeed been instances where other countries have had debts for various technical, financial, and other reasons.

Russia hopes for the best in the situation related to Armenia and the freezing of its membership in the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), and dialogue continues, including within the framework of the bilateral agenda, said Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Pankin.

It should be noted that Armenia's participation in the CSTO has been frozen since February 2024. Furthermore, Armenia has ceased its contributions to the organization’s budget and has stopped sending representatives to the CSTO's events and exercises.