Armenia suspends its participation in the CSTO

The participation of Armenia in the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) has been ‘frozen’ while the issue of the presence of the Russian military base in Armenia is off the agenda, said Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan in an interview with France 24.

The media outlet also reported, citing the politician, that Armenian participation in the CSTO has been frozen due to Russia’s «open call on Armenian people to overthrow the current government.»

«The Kremlin’s propaganda against me has never stopped,» Pashinyan highlighted.

He also accused the official Baku of considering Armenia as ‘Western Azerbaijan’ and preparing an invasion of Armenia.

«Ilham Aliyev doesn’t want a peace agreement based on mutual recognition of territorial integrity. He wants to take control over new territories in Armenia,» the prime minister stated.

He also noted that peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan at the current moment is impossible.

In the middle of February, after a gunfight at the border Azerbaijan carried out a retaliatory military operation and destroyed a post of the Armenian military near the border. After the operation, Armenia reported the death of four members of its military personnel.

What do we know about the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh? The conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan around Karabakh has lasted for 30 years.

In 2020, the long-lasting conflict rapidly escalated. After 45 days of fierce fighting, Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev signed the ceasefire agreement. The arrangement was also supported by Arayik Harutyunyan, head of self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh.

In May 2023, Pashinyan said that he would officially recognize the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan including Karabakh if the security of ethnic Armenians is guaranteed. Later, the two leaders confirmed the official recognition of the current borders of each other.

On September 9, 2023, the parliament of Karabakh chose 45-year-old Samvel Shahramanyan as the new president of the republic. Kazakhstan along with Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, the EU, Turkey, Moldova, Ukraine, Pakistan and the UK didn’t recognize the results of this presidential election.

In the same month, Azerbaijan conducted the second military operation in Nagorno-Karabakh to liquidate “the Stepanakert regime.” The operation lasted for just one day. On September 20, the two sides agreed to a ceasefire. On September 28, Shakhramanyan signed an edict that effectively liquidated the self-proclaimed republic starting from January 1, 2024. On October 5, 2023, Pashinyan signed a declaration that recognized Nagorno-Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan.