Zakharova: ‘We regret Armenia's continued boycotting of CSTO’

p

YEREVAN, 2 October. /ARKA/. The Russian Foreign Ministry regrets Armenia's ongoing ‘freezing’ or boycotting of the Collective Secuirty Treaty Organization (CSTO), Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said./pp

She noted that the country itself determines what is important and necessary for it./pp ‘We simply believe that the CSTO is as useful in the field of security as the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) is in the field of economy. And we do not see any obstacles for interaction within these two structures with Armenia. But this is a matter of this country's national policy, just like any other sovereign state,’ Zakharova said at a press briefing on Wednesday./pp

In February 2024, Armenia announced a freeze on its membership in the CSTO and later also refused to pay membership fees to the organisation./pp

On June 12, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that the next logical step in relations with the CSTO would be to withdraw from the organisation./pp

On 18 September, Pashinyan said that the CSTO was not fulfilling its defence commitments to Armenia and was creating threats to its security, existence, sovereignty and statehood. -0-/pp nbsp;/p