News - Russia MFA spox: I don’t understand logic, style of statement on ‘freezing’ of Armenia's participation in CSTO

We categorically do not accept the reproaches of the Armenian authorities regarding the alleged failure of the CSTO to fulfill its mandate and obligations towards Yerevan during the well-known events that took place in 2020 and 2021. Maria Zakharova, the official representative of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), stated this at Wednesday’s press briefing—and commenting on Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's statement that the Collective Security Treaty has not been implemented with respect to Armenia, especially in 2021 and 2022, and therefore Armenia's participation in the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) is "frozen." "Also, I want to remind that in September 2022, at the request of the Armenian side, an assessment mission of the organization's secretariat and joint staff was promptly formed, which was sent to the border regions of the country. Based on the results, the CSTO Collective Security Council prepared a decision on deploying a [CSTO] monitoring mission in Armenia. It is not our fault, nor the other members of the CSTO that this balanced decision, which planned to provide the [Armenian] republic with technico-military assistance and a number of other measures, was rejected by the Armenian authorities under a baseless pretext. Moreover, in return, Yerevan demonstratively chose to invite fake monitors from the EU. The known facts speak for themselves and leave no doubt about the zero effectiveness of the work of those [EU] representatives. We proceed from the fact that the Republic of Armenia continues to remain a full member of the CSTO, with all the rights and obligations arising from this status. At the same time, we note with regret that the dynamics of Yerevan's participation in the organization's events has decreased, and this clearly does not correspond to the interests of the friendly Armenian people and the tasks of ensuring the country's security. We hope that Yerevan will come to understand that existing concerns should be discussed and resolved through calm, confidential dialogue, rather than endlessly, chaotically throwing them into the public space. If we talk about the style of the [aforesaid] statement [by Pashinyan] and the logic of its construction, then, to be honest, I don't quite understand [it]. Just recently the representatives of Armenia said that the CSTO has left Armenia. If the CSTO, according to Yerevan, has left Armenia, how can Armenia ‘freeze’ its participation in it?" said the official representative of the Russian MFA.