The Prime Minister of Armenia “suspended” the security treaty with Russia

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, pointing to continued tensions with the Republic of Azerbaijan, said that Armenia has effectively suspended its participation in a key security agreement with Russia.

In an interview with France 24 published on Thursday, Pashinyan said his country is unhappy with the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), a six-member bloc established shortly after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Pashinyan explained: We believe that in the case of Armenia, this treaty has not been implemented, especially in 2021-2022, and it cannot be neglected. We have suspended our participation in this treaty. We will see what happens next.”

Last year, Armenia refused to participate in some events and military maneuvers of the Collective Security Treaty Organization. Pashinyan said in the past that Yerevan has no plans to officially cut ties with the Union. However, he asked the Union and its leader Russia to support Armenia during the conflict with Azerbaijan and condemn its “aggression” in the region.

Early this month, Yerevan and Baku accused each other of starting a firefight on the border that resulted in the death of four Armenian soldiers and the wounding of an Azerbaijani border guard. Following the conflict, Pashinyan said that Azerbaijan is planning a “full-scale war” against his country. Ilham Aliyev, the president of Azerbaijan, in his turn accused Armenia of fueling the tension.

In 2020, Azerbaijan took back a large part of the integral part of the Armenian-populated Nagorno-Karabakh region, which borders Yerevan. The 44-day war ended with a ceasefire that allowed Russian peacekeeping forces to be deployed in the region. Smaller border conflicts between Armenia and Azerbaijan continued in 2021 and 2022.

Baku re-established full control of Nagorno-Karabakh in a blitzkrieg attack in September 2023 that drove more than 100,000 local Armenians to flee. In the same year, Pashinyan recognized Karabakh as a part of Azerbaijan.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said in December 2023 that withdrawing from the security agreement is not in Armenia’s interest. However, he added that the final decision should be made by Yerevan and stressed that Moscow would like to maintain friendly relations with its neighbor.