OMM Newsroom
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the door was “not slammed shut” for Armenia in the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and that Yerevan would not be expelled.
Speaking in Moscow on Tuesday after a joint meeting of CSTO foreign and defense ministers and security council secretaries, Lavrov said the officials had discussed Armenia’s failure to meet its obligations under the organization’s charter to make annual budget contributions. Anadolu Agency reported his remarks.
Lavrov said Armenia had not paid membership fees since 2024, adding that the meeting had raised the possibility of applying Article 25 of the CSTO charter.
A draft decision would suspend Armenia’s right to nominate citizens to quota-based posts in the organization’s bodies and remove its right to vote until the debt is fully repaid, he said. The proposal was due to be considered by the CSTO Collective Security Council the following day.
Lavrov said the ministers had agreed to submit the decision to suspend Armenia’s voting rights to the heads of state, in accordance with Article 25. He added that even if adopted, the measure would leave Armenia with its main rights under the Collective Security Treaty, including the right to collective security.
Armenia has not formally applied to leave
Lavrov said Armenia had not submitted an official application to leave either the CSTO or the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU).
He said Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s position on holding a referendum on the EU and the EAEU amounted to presenting the public with a fait accompli. Lavrov said similar reasoning applied to the CSTO, citing Yerevan’s position that the organization no longer served Armenia’s interests because it did not meet the country’s security needs.
“If that is the case, then they need to leave. But if they want us to expel Armenia, we will not do so,” Lavrov said.
Lavrov calls for links between Eurasian organizations
Speaking separately at the International Collective Security Forum, Lavrov said Russia did not intend to “subjugate” any Eurasian structures. The aim, he said, was to create a unified system linking organizations.
He said there was no need to establish a structure that would subordinate existing organizations, including the CSTO, which he described as being based on clear, legally binding principles. Instead, he said, it was important to review existing organizations, subregional structures and the links already established between them.
