A former close ally of Russia said that President Vladimir Putin’s NATO-style alliance, far from offering security guarantees, now “creates threats” for his country.
Armenia recently froze its membership in the six-nation Collective Security Treaty Organization of post-Soviet states, which has been seen as Putin’s answer to NATO.
The CSTO also includes Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan.
Speaking at an event on Wednesday, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that the bloc “doesn’t ensure its security obligations towards Armenia,” according to state media agency Armenpress.
In fact, the CSTO “creates threats for Armenia’s security and Armenia’s future existence, sovereignty and statehood,” he said.
Armenia has increasingly pulled away from the bloc since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine. In February 2023, Pashinyan said “We are not Russia’s ally” when it comes to the conflict.
The latest remarks come amid Armenia’s broader attempts to reduce its reliance on Russian military support and to diversify its security partnerships, Armenian Weekly reported.
Armenia has not officially exited the CSTO but has spent months teasing its departure from it, following a year of snubs to the organization.
Pashinyan first said he was freezing Armenia’s membership in February, after months of not showing up at numerous CSTO events.
Experts have previously told Business Insider that developments within the CSTO have damaged Putin’s prestige.
The alliance is widely seen as Putin’s attempt to cement Russia’s great-power status with the leadership of a NATO-style collective defense bloc — but in practice, this has rarely worked.
Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Uzbekistan have all left the CSTO.
Armenia feels it is justified in pulling away.
When Armenia appealed for help last year during clashes with neighboring Azerbaijan, Putin refused to send troops — a move that infuriated Pashinyan.
Asked on Wednesday whether Armenia would restore its membership, Pashinyan said that this will only happen if he gets substantial answers to questions he has asked of the bloc for several years, Armenpress reported.
“The more no answers are heard, the more Armenia is distancing itself from the CSTO with every minute and second,” he said, per the outlet.
Addressing whether his country had reached the point of no return with the CSTO, Pashinyan added: “If we haven’t crossed it then there is big likelihood that we will.”
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