Armenia continues to be a member of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), a six-nation military alliance led by Moscow, CSTO Secretary-General Imangali Tasmagambetov has said.
“Armenia was—and still is—our ally,” Mr. Tasmagambetov was cited as saying by Russia’s TASS news agency on Nov. 27.
The CSTO was established in 1991 following the breakup of the Soviet Union. Along with Russia and Armenia, other members include Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan.
Mr. Tasmagambetov’s assertion comes four days after Armenia declined to take part in a major CSTO summit hosted by Belarus in Minsk. Leaders of the five other CSTO member states, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, attended the Nov. 23 event.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has repeatedly stated that Yerevan has no plans to withdraw from the post-Soviet security bloc, although in recent months, Armenian officials have been conspicuously absent from CSTO events and forums.
In early September, Armenia recalled its permanent representative to the CSTO and has yet to appoint a successor.
According to Mr. Tasmagambetov, it’s “pointless to draw any categorical conclusions” from Armenia’s decision to skip last week’s summit in Minsk.
“As far as the [CSTO] secretariat knows, the reasons for the Armenian delegation’s absence were technical,” he said. The move, he noted, “represented a decision by a sovereign state, which cannot be influenced by any other state or organization.”
A day after the summit, Mr. Pashinyan said that any decision to withdraw from the CSTO would be taken “in line with Armenia’s interests.”
In televised comments, he said that Armenia’s CSTO membership is hindering efforts to procure arms and support from “other sources”—a veiled reference to Western countries.
Mr. Pashinyan also repeated claims that Armenia’s longstanding membership in the bloc had failed to stop a recent military offensive by Azerbaijan—Armenia’s longstanding foe—in the Nagorno-Karabakh region.
In mid-September, Azerbaijan carried out a 24-hour offensive to disarm ethnic Armenian separatists in Nagorno-Karabakh and exert its control over the region.
Moscow, which maintains a peacekeeping force in Nagorno-Karabakh, has responded to Mr. Pashinyan’s criticisms by noting that Yerevan has formally recognized Baku’s sovereignty over the flashpoint region.
Although most of Nagorno-Karabakh’s inhabitants are ethnic Armenians, the region is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan.
Nevertheless, Mr. Pashinyan recently told The Wall Street Journal that Azerbaijan’s September offensive had brought Armenia to a decision that it needs to diversify its relationships in the security sphere.
“And we are trying to do that now,” he said.
During a visit to Yerevan in October, French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said that Paris had agreed in principle to supply Armenia with military equipment.
“France will be vigilant regarding the territorial integrity of Armenia,” Ms. Colonna said at the time.
‘Chain of Events’
Yerevan’s decision to skip the recent summit in Minsk is hardly the first sign of its deteriorating relations with Moscow.In September, Armenia declined to take part in CSTO military drills in Belarus. Soon afterward, it hosted elements of the U.S. Army for joint military exercises.
At the time, Leonid Slutsky, a prominent Russian parliamentarian, accused the United States of trying to gain an “anti-Russian foothold” in the South Caucasus.
In a further sign of strained relations last month, Armenia’s parliament ratified the Rome Statute, giving the International Criminal Court jurisdiction in Armenian territory.
Earlier this year, the Hague-based tribunal issued an arrest warrant for Mr. Putin for alleged war crimes in Ukraine—a claim rejected by Moscow.
The Rome Statute’s ratification means that Armenia—despite its membership in the CSTO—would be expected to arrest Mr. Putin if he ever visits the country.
In early November, Armen Grigoryan, head of Armenia’s security council, attended a European forum in Brussels, where he called for strengthening his country’s security ties with the European Union.
In a joint declaration, forum participants endorsed the view that Armenia’s “strategic future” lay in full EU membership and “integration into the Euro-Atlantic security system.”
The declaration further called for Armenia’s withdrawal from several Moscow-led organizations, including the CSTO.
In recent comments, a Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman said Armenia’s absence from last week’s CSTO summit was only the latest in a long “chain of events.”
“The West, whose plans in Ukraine have failed, is now tightening its grip on Armenia and trying to tear it away from Russia,” she said.
