The possibility of Armenia withdrawing from the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) is not currently on the agenda, but it appears to have been after the escalation at the border with Azerbaijan last fall, Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Mnatsakan Safaryan said on Tuesday
YEREVAN (UrduPoint News / Sputnik – 16th May, 2023) The possibility of Armenia withdrawing from the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) is not currently on the agenda, but it appears to have been after the escalation at the border with Azerbaijan last fall, Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Mnatsakan Safaryan said on Tuesday.
On Monday, Armenian Security Council Secretary Armen Grigoryan said that the Armenian government mulled leaving the CSTO, adding that the organization's mechanism did not work properly and the member states failed to fulfill their commitments.
"There is not such an issue on the agenda at the moment," Safaryan told reporters, when asked whether the country was considering withdrawal from the CSTO.
Commenting on Grigoryan's remarks, Safaryan admitted that such a possibility could have been discussed during the session of the Armenian Security Council after the escalation at the border with Azerbaijan in September 2022.
"I cannot give you the exact date (when the discussions took place), because apparently it was discussed during the session of the Security Council.
I think it was at the time of the September events. Please check (with the Security Council)," the Armenian senior diplomat told reporters.
Safaryan stressed that a decision had finally been made not to withdraw, but to continue the work within the organization, with Yerevan hoping for certain results.
The developments come after in March, Armenia refused to send a representative to serve as Deputy Secretary General of the CSTO. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has repeatedly said that Yerevan had witnessed the organization's inaction in 2021-2022.
In September 2022, an outbreak of hostilities between Yerevan and Baku was reported in an area unrelated to the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region (also known as the self-proclaimed Republic of Artsakh) � the most serious escalation since the 2020 events. Armenia and Azerbaijan accused each other of shelling and reported losses in their ranks.
https://www.urdupoint.com/en/world/armenias-possible-withdrawal-from-csto-not-o-1692629.html