Armenia Freezes Membership in CSTO After Russia’s Failure to Condemn Azerbaijan Attack

Armenia has announced that it will not participate in financing the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) in 2024, as per a decision made on November 23. The Armenian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson, Ani Badalyan, stated that relations between Armenia and Russia, as well as within the CSTO, have intensified following Azerbaijan’s attack in September 2022. Despite Armenia’s demands for the organization to condemn the attack and acknowledge Azerbaijan’s occupation of its territories, the CSTO has failed to do so.

As a result, Yerevan rejected the proposal to deploy CSTO observers on the border and Prime Minister Pashinyan declared that Armenia’s membership in the bloc was effectively frozen in 2024. This leaves open the possibility of Armenia leaving the CSTO in the future.

The CSTO is composed of six members: Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Belarus. This decision by Armenia reflects the strained relations within the organization due to recent events and disagreements between member states. The organization is currently facing criticism from many countries for its failure to take action against Azerbaijan’s aggression towards its neighboring states.