02:04Mandatory credit: National Assembly of Armenia
Withdrawal from the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) will be Yerevan's next step, but its timing has not been determined, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said at a parliamentary session on Thursday.
"The next logical step will be to withdraw from the organisation (Collective Security Treaty Organisation, CSTO). I would like to remind you that in the government programme for 2021-2026, we did not say that we would remain a CSTO member. We said we have questions, the answers to which will determine our decisions. Maybe this will happen in a month, a year, or three years," the Armenian leader said.
Pashinyan also stated that Armenian officials will not visit Belarus while Alexander Lukashenko is its president.
"One of the CSTO leaders said that he participated in the preparation of the 44-day war (the 2020 conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh), supported Azerbaijan, believed in its victory, wished for it. And after that I should have a dialogue with the Belarusian President [Alexander Lukashenko] in the CSTO format? <...> I will never go to Belarus as long as Alexander Lukashenko is the leader of this country. And in connection with the CSTO, I announce that no official representative of Armenia will go to Belarus," he claimed.
The politician added that the situation could be changed by Belarus' withdrawal from the CSTO or the words of Alexander Lukashenko's apology, 'that will be acceptable to the Armenian people.'
In turn, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan, clarifying Pashinyan's words, said that the country does not withdraw from the CSTO, but the country's authorities will decide for themselves when this happens.
On February 23, the Prime Minister stated that Yerevan had 'frozen' its participation in the organization, since in 2021-2022 the organization 'did not fulfill its obligations to the Republic of Armenia in the field of security,' which led to a new round of conflict in Karabakh.
The CSTO includes Russia, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.
On November 9, 2020, after 44 days of armed conflict in Karabakh, Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan signed a trilateral declaration on a ceasefire in the republic. On May 25, 2023, Yerevan and Baku agreed on mutual recognition of territorial integrity.
On September 19, 2023, the conflict in Karabakh escalated again after the Baku authorities accused Yerevan of 'systematic shelling of positions of the Azerbaijani army' and launched a counter-terrorism operation in the region. At the same time, Pashinyan denied the presence of the Armenian armed forces in Karabakh.
On September 20, the Ministry of Defense of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic announced the decision to lay down arms and cease fire, and on September 28, NKR leader Samvel Shahramanyan signed a decree on the self-dissolution of the republic from January 1, 2024.
Yerevan’s 'next logical step will be to withdraw' from CSTO - Armenian PM Pashinyan
Withdrawal from the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) will be Yerevan's next step, but its timing has not been determined, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said at a parliamentary session on Thursday.
"The next logical step will be to withdraw from the organisation (Collective Security Treaty Organisation, CSTO). I would like to remind you that in the government programme for 2021-2026, we did not say that we would remain a CSTO member. We said we have questions, the answers to which will determine our decisions. Maybe this will happen in a month, a year, or three years," the Armenian leader said.
Pashinyan also stated that Armenian officials will not visit Belarus while Alexander Lukashenko is its president.
"One of the CSTO leaders said that he participated in the preparation of the 44-day war (the 2020 conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh), supported Azerbaijan, believed in its victory, wished for it. And after that I should have a dialogue with the Belarusian President [Alexander Lukashenko] in the CSTO format? <...> I will never go to Belarus as long as Alexander Lukashenko is the leader of this country. And in connection with the CSTO, I announce that no official representative of Armenia will go to Belarus," he claimed.
The politician added that the situation could be changed by Belarus' withdrawal from the CSTO or the words of Alexander Lukashenko's apology, 'that will be acceptable to the Armenian people.'
In turn, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan, clarifying Pashinyan's words, said that the country does not withdraw from the CSTO, but the country's authorities will decide for themselves when this happens.
On February 23, the Prime Minister stated that Yerevan had 'frozen' its participation in the organization, since in 2021-2022 the organization 'did not fulfill its obligations to the Republic of Armenia in the field of security,' which led to a new round of conflict in Karabakh.
The CSTO includes Russia, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.
On November 9, 2020, after 44 days of armed conflict in Karabakh, Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan signed a trilateral declaration on a ceasefire in the republic. On May 25, 2023, Yerevan and Baku agreed on mutual recognition of territorial integrity.
On September 19, 2023, the conflict in Karabakh escalated again after the Baku authorities accused Yerevan of 'systematic shelling of positions of the Azerbaijani army' and launched a counter-terrorism operation in the region. At the same time, Pashinyan denied the presence of the Armenian armed forces in Karabakh.
On September 20, the Ministry of Defense of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic announced the decision to lay down arms and cease fire, and on September 28, NKR leader Samvel Shahramanyan signed a decree on the self-dissolution of the republic from January 1, 2024.
Mandatory credit: National Assembly of Armenia
Withdrawal from the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) will be Yerevan's next step, but its timing has not been determined, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said at a parliamentary session on Thursday.
"The next logical step will be to withdraw from the organisation (Collective Security Treaty Organisation, CSTO). I would like to remind you that in the government programme for 2021-2026, we did not say that we would remain a CSTO member. We said we have questions, the answers to which will determine our decisions. Maybe this will happen in a month, a year, or three years," the Armenian leader said.
Pashinyan also stated that Armenian officials will not visit Belarus while Alexander Lukashenko is its president.
"One of the CSTO leaders said that he participated in the preparation of the 44-day war (the 2020 conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh), supported Azerbaijan, believed in its victory, wished for it. And after that I should have a dialogue with the Belarusian President [Alexander Lukashenko] in the CSTO format? <...> I will never go to Belarus as long as Alexander Lukashenko is the leader of this country. And in connection with the CSTO, I announce that no official representative of Armenia will go to Belarus," he claimed.
The politician added that the situation could be changed by Belarus' withdrawal from the CSTO or the words of Alexander Lukashenko's apology, 'that will be acceptable to the Armenian people.'
In turn, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan, clarifying Pashinyan's words, said that the country does not withdraw from the CSTO, but the country's authorities will decide for themselves when this happens.
On February 23, the Prime Minister stated that Yerevan had 'frozen' its participation in the organization, since in 2021-2022 the organization 'did not fulfill its obligations to the Republic of Armenia in the field of security,' which led to a new round of conflict in Karabakh.
The CSTO includes Russia, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.
On November 9, 2020, after 44 days of armed conflict in Karabakh, Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan signed a trilateral declaration on a ceasefire in the republic. On May 25, 2023, Yerevan and Baku agreed on mutual recognition of territorial integrity.
On September 19, 2023, the conflict in Karabakh escalated again after the Baku authorities accused Yerevan of 'systematic shelling of positions of the Azerbaijani army' and launched a counter-terrorism operation in the region. At the same time, Pashinyan denied the presence of the Armenian armed forces in Karabakh.
On September 20, the Ministry of Defense of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic announced the decision to lay down arms and cease fire, and on September 28, NKR leader Samvel Shahramanyan signed a decree on the self-dissolution of the republic from January 1, 2024.