Pashinyan warns of potential de jure freeze of Armenia's activities in CSTO if the current process continues

Armenia has de facto frozen its activities in the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO). 

If Armenia does not receive an answer to the question regarding the area of responsibility of the CSTO in the Republic of Armenia, it will de jure freeze its involvement as well. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated this Wednesday during a question-and-answer session with members of the government in the National Assembly.

 "We asked the CSTO a question and we have not received an answer yet. The absence of clarity on this issue, in our opinion, poses threats to the national security and territorial integrity of Armenia. The question is very simple: what is the CSTO's area of responsibility in the Republic of Armenia?"

The question arose in 2021, after the events of May, the events of November 2021 and after the events of September 2022. 

"The question arose in the following context: the CSTO sent a mission here, and as a result of the mission's actions and studies, it was expected to assess the situation. And our CSTO partners refused to assess the situation, which has led to this situation," said the Prime Minister.

Referring to his statement that Armenia has practically frozen its activities in the CSTO, Pashinyan said that this means, for example, that Armenia has not had a permanent representative in the CSTO for a year, and has not participated in CSTO events at both high and highest levels for a long time now.

The principle of consensus applies to decision-making in the Collective Security Treaty. Pashinyan assured that Armenia is not blocking anything, but it is also not participating. The Prime Minister reiterated that Armenia's non-participation is due to a simple reason: it does not have an answer to the question of why it should participate.

Armenia knows what the CSTO's area of responsibility is in the Republic of Armenia.

"All we are suggesting is to sign under that legitimate answer and confirm it. This must be done by consensus," the PM said.

He added that the CSTO, instead of fulfilling its security obligations to Armenia, on the contrary, creates security problems for the Republic of Armenia. And it poses a threat to the national security of the Republic of Armenia.