A Russian Foreign Ministry official told RIA Novosti that there’s little chance that Armenian will withdraw from the Russian-led CSTO military alliance despite Western pressure on Yerevan to do so.

Viktor Vasilyev, Ambassador at Large of the Russian Foreign Ministry for CSTO issues, told the news agency that all countries of the alliance are focused on implementing the decisions reached by the CSTO Security Council held in November 2023.

Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan’s refused to attend the November Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) summit of the leaders of ex-Soviet states making up the alliance, highlighting his government’s mounting tensions with the other CSTO member states and Russia.

Pashinyan has repeatedly accused the CSTO of not honoring its security commitments to Armenia, going so far as hinting that he’d pull out of the military alliance.

Ria Novosti quotes Vasilyev as saying that Yerevan is considering the documents adopted at the November summit and has agreed to some of them.

“In many ways, this situation is both the result of pressure from Westerners and the understandable emotions of the leadership and residents of Armenia,” Vasilyev said.

Pashinyan, in a snub to Moscow, also didn’t attend the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) summit in Bishkek last October.

"We are using discussions at all levels within CSTO to draw the attention of our Armenian partners to this conscious policy of Western countries," Vasilyev said.

Photo: Sputnik / Alexey Mayshev