It is a matter of perspective. Could it be said is it possible for Armenia to leave the CSTO? Or could it be said is it possible for the CSTO to leave Armenia? Or is it possible that this whole situation means that the CSTO has the intention to leave Armenia? Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan of the Republic of Armenia (RA) stated this during his press conference Tuesday.

"We are guided by the state interests of Armenia. And after this, too, we will be guided by the interests of Armenia when adjusting, maintaining or changing our position on any issue," he said.

When asked to what extent Armenia is involved in the negotiations with the Russian peacekeepers in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) regarding the reopening of the Lachin corridor that links Artsakh to Armenia, the Prime Minister answered: "We do not criticize the Russian peacekeepers, we raise our concerns about the activities of the Russian peacekeepers, and these concerns have a long history. I have constantly drawn the attention of our Russian partners that a state campaign to discredit Russian peacekeepers has started in Azerbaijan. It is obvious. On the other hand, we need to understand what function the peacekeepers perform there. In the statement of November 9, [2020] it is written that the Lachin corridor remains under the control of Russian peacekeepers, it is not written there that when the Lachin corridor is not under the control of Russian peacekeepers, Armenia should ensure control over the Lachin corridor and hand it over to the Russian peacekeepers."

The Armenian PM noted that no one disputes that the security of Nagorno-Karabakh is ensured today by Russian peacekeepers there.

"But we have the precedent of Parukh [village] events when Azerbaijanis entered the area of responsibility of Russian peacekeepers and we did not see any reaction to it. The RA citizens were captured in the zone of responsibility of Russian peacekeepers in Khtsaberd [village]. Following the deployment of Russian peacekeepers in the Lachin corridor, RA citizens who are not related to military actions were captured.

These are questions about which we have to give answer to the public. (…).  We deal with these issues. I am not discussing these issues with the commander of the Russian [peacekeeping] contingent [in Artsakh], but with the commander-in-chief of that commander," Pashinyan said.