“We will continue to work with our Armenian friends,” Russian news agencies quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying. “We will clarify their position. Of course, we hope that in any case we will adhere to partnership and allied relations.”
Pashinian on Wednesday denounced the CSTO as a “bubble alliance” whose members helped Azerbaijan prepare for the 2020 war in Nagorno-Karabakh. Armenia’s exit from the alliance is therefore inevitable, he said.
Pashinian reaffirmed his decision when he spoke in the Armenian parliament the following day. He again did not say just when Armenia will formally leave the CSTO. That could happen in “one month, one year or three years from now,” he said vaguely.
Pashinian announced the effective suspension of Armenia’s CSTO membership in February after his administration boycotted high-level meetings and other joint activities of Russia and the four other ex-Soviet states making up the bloc. He has repeatedly accused them of not honoring their security commitments to Armenia.
The rift with the CSTO reflects Yerevan’s broader tensions with Moscow that are continuing to grow. The Kremlin’s efforts to downplay their significance contrast with stern warnings to the Armenian side regularly issued by Russia’s Foreign Ministry and senior lawmakers.