Yerevan says it expects problems with the CSTO to be resolved

Armenia expects the resolution of problematic issues with the CSTO despite the fact that the "point of no return" has already been passed, said Artur Hovhannisyan, a deputy of the republic's parliament and a member of the Civil Contract party led by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

"Armenia will express its position on the issue of the country's expulsion from the CSTO when such discussions take place and decisions are made. At the moment there are none. Our decision at the moment is to freeze membership in the CSTO, hoping that the problems that have arisen still have some percentage of a chance of being resolved. If not, then we will act in accordance with the state interests of Armenia," Hovhannisyan told journalists on Monday.

According to him, Armenia is de facto not a member of the CSTO, and the Organization is not a guarantor of the republic's security.

"What will happen next, we will see. But I believe that in a certain sense we have passed the point of no return, however we expect all our partners to give assessments that correspond to reality," the deputy said.

He also stated that Armenia is not discussing the issue of membership in another security organization.

Earlier, Pashinyan said that Yerevan had frozen its participation in the CSTO, and the reason for this decision was the situation in which "the CSTO did not fulfill its obligations to ensure the security of the Republic of Armenia."

In June, the prime minister stated that the republic would take note if the CSTO member countries decided to expel Armenia from the organization.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov reported that the CSTO countries had agreed to consider applying the relevant article of the organization's charter to Armenia due to Yerevan's failure to pay dues for more than two years.

Source: INTERFAX.RU