Armenia could be stripped of its voting rights in the CSTO as early as next week

The CSTO Collective Security Council may decide next week to temporarily strip Armenia of its voting rights in the organization over unpaid membership dues.

This was stated in an interview with TASS by Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Pankin.

According to him, Armenia has not been transferring contributions to the organization's budget for more than two years, which makes it possible to raise the question of applying the restrictions provided for by the charter.

"Armenia has not paid contributions for more than two years, so the question may well be considered and a decision taken on temporarily suspending its membership — more precisely, depriving it of the right to vote until the contributions are paid," Pankin said.

The deputy head of the Russian Foreign Ministry emphasized that this is a technical procedure provided for by the CSTO charter. The final decision, according to him, will depend on the position of the heads of the organization's member states.

Armenia announced the freezing of its participation in the CSTO in 2024 and stopped paying membership dues. At the same time, the organization's charter does not provide for a procedure for freezing membership, so formally the republic still remains a member of the CSTO along with Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan.