Armenia could lose its voting rights in CSTO

Armenia could be deprived of its voting rights in the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO). Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Pankin announced the possibility ahead of a meeting scheduled to take place in Moscow on November 11.

Pankin told TASS on November 6 that the CSTO Collective Security Council could vote next week on temporarily suspending Armenia’s voting rights, AnewZ reports.

According to Pankin, Armenia has not paid its membership fees for more than two years. He said the council could consider suspending the country’s membership temporarily — or, more precisely, stripping it of voting rights until the debt is paid. Pankin described this as a technical matter provided for in the organization’s charter and said the decision would depend on the president of the country chairing the council.

Russia currently chairs the CSTO and sets the organization’s agenda. Pankin said a trilateral meeting of foreign and defense ministers and security council secretaries would be held before the CSTO summit. In his view, the issue of Armenia might not be the most important topic, but could attract the most public interest.

Asked whether the issue would be raised at next week’s meetings, Pankin said it was possible, but that this depended on whether the other participants agreed to consider it. He added that he expected the issue to be discussed.

A meeting of the CSTO Collective Security Council is scheduled for November 11 in Moscow.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan previously told parliament that he would welcome his country’s removal from the alliance. He also said Armenia would not expand its participation in the organization over the next five years, underscoring Yerevan’s waning interest in the CSTO.

Pashinyan has not stated a specific alternative to CSTO membership. Options could include closer ties with Türkiye and Azerbaijan or applying to join NATO, which has not invited Armenia to become a member.

In September 2024, Pashinyan announced that Armenia had frozen its participation in the CSTO and alleged that the alliance posed a threat to the country’s sovereignty. A month later, Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan said at an international security forum in Warsaw that Yerevan was weighing the risks of leaving the organization.

In December 2024, Pashinyan said relations between Armenia and the CSTO had reached a point of no return.