Goodbye CSTO: Armenia wants to leave the Russian military alliance

Pashinyan: “We will go”
Armenia wants to withdraw from Moscow’s military alliance

June 12, 2024, 11:44 pm

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Anger over Russia’s inaction in Nagorno-Karabakh runs even deeper in Armenia. The relationship initially cooled significantly, and later Armenia did not participate in a military exercise. Now it wants to go one better and leave the alliance.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan wants to steer his country away from the Russian-dominated security alliance of several former Soviet states. Pashinyan said his government would later decide on the right time to withdraw from the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), which includes Russia, Belarus and the former Central Asian Soviet states of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.

As the rift with Russia deepened, Armenia previously suspended participation in the alliance, canceled participation in joint military exercises and avoided CSTO summits. Now Pashinyan has said for the first time during a question time in parliament that Armenia will fully withdraw from the CSTO. There was no immediate statement from the Russian side.

“We’ll go,” Pashinian said. “We’re not coming back, there’s no other way.” Shortly thereafter, in an apparent attempt to soften a standoff to Moscow, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan insisted that Pashinian had not yet announced a full withdrawal. “Those who claim that the prime minister said that Armenia will withdraw from the CSTO are mistaken,” Mirsoyan said.

Armenia moves westward

Armenia’s ties with Russia, Armenia’s longtime ally, have been strained since Azerbaijan seized the Nagorno-Karabakh region in a military offensive in September, ending three decades of rule by Armenian separatists. The Armenian side blames Russian peacekeepers sent to Nagorno-Karabakh in 2020 after earlier hostilities for failing to stop Azerbaijan’s offensive.

Moscow, which has a military base in Armenia, rejected the allegations, saying its troops had no mandate to intervene. The Kremlin was angered by Pashinyan’s efforts to deepen ties with the West. Russia was particularly angered by Armenia’s decision to join the International Criminal Court, which last year issued an arrest warrant for Putin over alleged war crimes in Ukraine.

Pashinyan is now facing calls for his resignation. The background was his government’s decision to cede four border villages to Azerbaijan to facilitate a peace accord with its long-time rival. Violent clashes erupted on Wednesday as thousands of demonstrators tried to break through police barricades outside the parliament building. Demonstrators threw bottles and stones at officers, who later used stun grenades. According to official reports, around 30 people were injured and scores of demonstrators were arrested by the police.