Yerevan is free to decide to withdraw from the Collective Security Treaty Organization if Armenia no longer sees a need to remain a member, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
Earlier, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said he would be pleased if the CSTO expelled Armenia from the organization.
“I find it difficult to understand what it means that he would be pleased if they expelled him. If Yerevan, based on its national interests, no longer needs membership in an organization so important for ensuring regional security, then it is free to make the appropriate decision and withdraw from that organization,” Peskov said, according to «RIA Novosti».
Russia’s Permanent Representative to the CSTO Viktor Vasilyev, for his part, said a decision to deprive Armenia of voting rights in CSTO bodies would require consensus. He also said the next session of the CSTO Collective Security Council would take place in Moscow on November 11, and the leaders of the member states would likely discuss the issue.
Armenia froze its participation in the CSTO in 2024.
