Armenia suspends its participation in the CSTO
Armenia’s participation in the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) has been ‘frozen’ while the issue of the Russian military base in Armenia is off the agenda, said Armenia’s Prime Minister, 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 said peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan is impossible at the moment.
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 lasted for 30 years.
In 2020, the long-running conflict escalated rapidly. After 45 days of fierce fighting, Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev signed the ceasefire agreement. Arayik Harutyunyan, head of self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh, also supported the arrangement.
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 each other’s current borders.
On Sept. 9, 2023, Karabakh’s parliament chose 45-year-old Samvel Shahramanyan as the republic’s new president. 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 Sept. 20, the two sides agreed to a ceasefire. On September 28, Shakhramanyan signed an edict that effectively liquidated the self-proclaimed republic, effective Jan. 1, 2024. On Oct. 5, 2023, Pashinyan signed a declaration that recognized Nagorno-Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan.
