Yes, in fact, we have frozen our participation in the CSTO. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated this at his press conference today—and regarding his announcement about Armenia "freezing" its participation in the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and noting that there is no need to intimidate the political stance with legal processes.

"It means that we [i.e. Armenia] do not participate in the [CSTO] meetings, we do not have a representative [there]. Doesn't the question arise as to why Yerevan does not use its vote to appoint the deputy secretary general of the organization, why Armenia does not express opinions on the documents in circulation. Yerevan is asking, waiting, and demanding that the partners along the lines of the CSTO answer a question: what is the area of responsibility of the organization in Armenia," Pashinyan said.

According to him, Armenia did not create problems in the CSTO, they came to be when Armenia raised the issue of the area of responsibility.

"And we have not received the answer to this question. Moreover, it did not just appear like that. Before that, there were serious discussions, and we received the clear position of the CSTO and the Russian Federation, which did not give rise to misinterpretations that the sovereign territory of Armenia is a red line for Moscow and the organization. However, when Armenia recorded, during the invasion of Azerbaijan in May 2021, that the red line was crossed, the steps specified in the CSTO Charter were not followed. And even then, Yerevan did not publicly raise any issues, they were discussed in working order. The next invasions of Azerbaijan followed in November 2021 and September 2022. That is, it's not like we suddenly woke up and remembered the CSTO... It was a long process that started back in 2020 and even earlier," Pashinyan said.

He noted that during the 2020 war, the CSTO announced that it was ready to send peacekeepers to Armenia. But a question arose in Yerevan as to why this organization acts as a neutral party if Armenia is its member.

Pashinyan emphasized that if the CSTO answers the question about its area of responsibility in Armenia and the answer corresponds to the views of Yerevan, then the matters will be resolved between them.

"If not, Armenia will leave the organization. When? I can't say," Pashinyan added, joking, "by the New Year."