Armenia threatens to leave Russian-led military alliance CSTO

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) – Armenia on Tuesday threatened to leave the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) if the six-nation military alliance, which includes Russia, failed to clearly define the country's area of responsibility.

“If the CSTO answers the question of where the organization’s area of responsibility is in Armenia, and this question corresponds to our vision, then we will consider that the issue between us has been resolved. If not, then Armenia will leave the CSTO. When? I cannot say,” Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said at a press conference in the capital Yerevan.

Pashinyan said Yerevan expects a response regarding the CSTO's area of responsibility in Armenia, saying Armenia has not caused problems in relations with the CSTO.

“They appeared from the moment we raised the question of the area of ​​responsibility and did not receive an answer to it,” he added.

Earlier on Feb. 22, Pashinyan announced in an interview with French television France24 that Yerevan had suspended its participation in the CSTO.

Armenia's differences with the CSTO began when Azerbaijan liberated most of the Karabakh region and seven adjacent regions during a 44-day war in the fall of 2020.

Yerevan chastised the Russia-led military bloc for failing to prevent Azerbaijan from liberating its internationally recognized territories, which had been occupied by Armenia for more than 30 years.

Last September, the Azerbaijani army initiated an anti-terrorism operation in Karabakh and liberated the rest of its territories, ending 30 years of Armenian occupation.