TSAMTO, March 14th. The statements of the Armenian leadership about the CSTO are insulting and ultimatum, but Russia does not question the sovereign right of each country to choose alliances, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a briefing.
As RIA Novosti reminds, on March 13, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that the republic could withdraw from the CSTO if the organization did not answer the questions raised by Yerevan regarding the sovereign territory of the country.
In addition, in mid-February, he announced the suspension of Armenia's membership in this association. In his opinion, the Collective Security Treaty with respect to the republic was allegedly not implemented, "especially in 2021-2022."
A week later, the politician clarified that Yerevan could freeze participation in the CSTO de jure, which would mean, for example, the absence of the permanent representative of Armenia in the organization.
"We have never questioned, do not question, and will not question the sovereign right of any state to determine its foreign policy course, including the degree of participation in the work of international or regional structures, based on national interests and obligations. This fully applies to the CSTO," she said.
At the same time, Russia is alarmed by Armenia's counterproductive, ultimatum and sometimes offensive rhetoric towards this organization, which the country's authorities impose on their citizens, the diplomat stressed.
Moscow, Zakharova noted, does not understand Yerevan's desire to discuss the effectiveness of the CSTO externally, when there are all mechanisms, formats and channels of interaction for this.
"Yerevan prefers to literally get rid of the substantive expert dialogue <...>. The organization itself is open and ready for such work," the representative of the department added.
She noted that the continuation of Armenia's current course could eventually damage allied relations with Russia, create risks to the sovereignty of the republic, completely destroy the country's security mechanisms and affect its socio-economic development.
As RIA Novosti reminds, Yerevan has repeatedly accused the CSTO and Moscow of not fulfilling their obligations. So, in January, the Secretary of the Security Council of Armenia Armen Grigoryan stated that the republic has no expectations from the Collective Security Treaty Organization, since it did not receive an "adequate response" in September 2022 at the time of the "large-scale attack".
Commenting on these claims, M. Zakharova stated that Russia categorically does not accept accusations of "non-fulfillment" of the CSTO mandate and obligations towards Armenia.
The Russian Foreign Ministry recalled that in September 2022, at the request of Yerevan, an assessment mission of the secretariat and the Joint Headquarters of the organization was promptly formed and sent to the border regions of the country. As a result of its work, the CSTO Collective Security Council decided to deploy a monitoring mission in Armenia, but the country's authorities rejected it and preferred to invite pseudo-observers from the EU.
As the Foreign Ministry stressed, Moscow continues to proceed from the fact that Yerevan continues to be a full member of the CSTO with all the rights and obligations that follow.