YEREVAN, Oct. 1, 2025
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said his country effectively became independent from the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) after member states failed to fulfill their commitments to Armenia.
Speaking during a government Q&A session in parliament, Pashinyan argued that the alliance had proved unreliable.
“When in 2022 we realized that the CSTO had not fulfilled, does not fulfill, and will not fulfill its obligations toward us, that was the moment we became independent – because we understood we could rely only on ourselves,” Pashinyan said, as quoted by Novosti-Armenia.
He added that the bloc’s security system was an “illusion.”
“It is merely an instrument to prevent our state from taking shape. In 2020 we still did not understand this,” he said, according to News.am.
Armenia formally “froze” its participation in the CSTO in February 2024 and later stopped financing the organization, citing the bloc’s failure to respond to security threats against Armenia and its perceived indifference during the Nagorno-Karabakh crisis.
The CSTO, founded in 1992, currently includes Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Armenia. Its mandate is to ensure collective defense and protect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of its members. Azerbaijan was a member until 1999.
In June 2025, Yerevan demanded that CSTO states issue statements on Azerbaijan’s actions, warning it would make a final decision on leaving the bloc if the situation did not change.
Russian officials, including Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, have repeatedly stressed that Armenia remains a member until a formal withdrawal is filed.
