Armenia will not attend this week’s summit of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) in Astana, Kazakhstan, a senior Russian official announced on Monday.
The meeting, scheduled for Thursday, will bring together leaders of Russia and other former Soviet states that form the Russian-led military alliance. Preceding the summit, foreign and defense ministers, along with security council secretaries, will convene for a joint session.
“Our Armenian colleagues have regrettably declined to participate in person,” Viktor Vasiliev, Russia’s ambassador to the CSTO headquarters in Moscow, told RIA Novosti. He added, however, that Armenia does not object to the adoption of the summit’s documents in a limited format.
The office of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has not confirmed this statement. Meanwhile, a spokeswoman for Armenia’s Foreign Ministry told Armenpress that Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan will also skip the Astana gathering.
Armenia began boycotting CSTO meetings, military drills, and other activities last fall, effectively suspending its membership in the alliance. This reflects a growing rift in Russian-Armenian relations, with Pashinyan’s government pivoting toward the West, citing the CSTO’s and Russia’s failure to uphold security guarantees for Armenia in the South Caucasus.
In September, Pashinyan warned that Armenia’s relationship with its former Soviet allies could reach a “point of no return,” accusing the CSTO of posing an existential threat to Armenia. The Russian Foreign Ministry dismissed these claims, noting that Pashinyan has stopped short of formally leaving the alliance.
Russian officials have repeatedly argued that Western powers cannot provide Armenia with credible alternatives for security or economic development. Sergei Kopyrkin, Russia’s ambassador to Yerevan, reinforced this position in an interview with Izvestia published Monday, stating that “Russia remains committed to its obligations to ensure Armenia’s security both bilaterally and through the CSTO.”
