Armenian MP Says CSTO Has Yet to Recognize Armenia’s Borders as Organization Presses Yerevan for Membership Decision

YEREVAN — Civil Contract parliamentary faction member Artur Hovhannisyan has criticized the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), saying the alliance has yet to recognize the borders of Armenia under which the country originally joined the organization.

Hovhannisyan made the remarks in response to questions about recent statements from CSTO officials suggesting that Armenia could eventually be deprived of its voting rights and face further measures over its continued suspension of participation in the organization.

The lawmaker said the CSTO itself still has to answer why it failed to fulfill its security obligations toward Armenia.

“At this point, you can see that the Republic of Armenia is doing everything possible to develop its own military-industrial capabilities and ensure its security through its own resources, while establishing strategic partnerships with various countries and strengthening its military and defense capabilities,” Hovhannisyan said.

He added that Armenia envisions developing diversified relations in the economic, political and military spheres.

“In other words, instead of being dependent on a single center, we want to have multiple partnerships and diversified relationships,” he said.

Meanwhile, CSTO Secretary General Taalatbek Masadykov said that a decision regarding Armenia’s future participation in the organization should be made within a “reasonable timeframe.”

“We proceed from the assumption that a decision regarding Armenia’s participation in the CSTO should be made within a reasonable timeframe,” Masadykov said in an interview with RIA Novosti.

Earlier, Russia’s permanent representative to the CSTO, Viktor Vasilyev, said that depriving Armenia of its voting rights within the organization would require the consensus of all member states.

According to Vasilyev, the next meeting of the CSTO Collective Security Council is scheduled to take place in Moscow on November 11, and he did not rule out the possibility that the leaders of the member states could discuss issues related to Armenia’s participation.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on June 10 that because Armenia has stopped paying its CSTO membership dues, the organization could consider invoking the relevant provision of its charter. The provision allows measures to be taken against member states that fail to fulfill their obligations within the organization.

Armenia announced in 2024 that it was freezing its participation in the CSTO. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has said the decision was prompted by what Yerevan considers the organization’s failure to fulfill its treaty obligations toward Armenia during the security crises of 2021 and 2022.

Armenia nevertheless remains formally a member of the CSTO. The organization also includes Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.