The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) may discuss suspending Armenia’s participation rights at the November summit, Russia’s permanent representative to the CSTO and Ambassador-at-Large of the Foreign Ministry, Viktor Vasiliev, said on Thursday.
Speaking in an interview with Russian state news agency RIA, Vasiliev said Armenia’s obligations had remained unfulfilled for more than two years.
The organization can suspend a member state’s right to nominate candidates for quota-based positions and its voting rights in CSTO bodies if the state fails to meet its financial obligations to the organization’s budget for two years, he said.
“De facto, this provision has already been in effect for more than two years,” Vasiliev said, noting that Armenia has not nominated citizens for quota-based positions in the CSTO Secretariat and has withdrawn its representatives from the organization’s Joint Staff.
The next session of the CSTO Collective Security Council is scheduled in Moscow on Nov. 11, and the leaders of member states may discuss the issue, Vasiliev said.
Any decision would require consensus among the organization’s members, he added.
Armenia’s contribution to the CSTO budget amounts to 10%, according to Vasiliev. The organization’s 2026 budget includes 278.27 million rubles ($3.5 million) for the CSTO Secretariat and 292.07 million rubles ($3.7 million) for its Joint Staff, meaning Armenia’s combined share would amount to about 57 million rubles ($4.6 million).
Vasiliev rejected the characterization of Armenia’s relationship with the CSTO as a “conflict,” saying the organization remains interested in maintaining relations with Yerevan.
He said Moscow wanted to preserve friendly relations with Armenia, citing longstanding historical and social ties between the two countries.
He added that the Karabakh conflict was outside the CSTO’s mandate and should not be directly linked to Armenia’s relations with the organization.
The envoy also commented on Armenia’s expanding security cooperation with NATO member states, including the Eagle Partner-2026 military exercise involving Armenian, US, French and Greek personnel.
The official said Russia viewed such cooperation as part of efforts by NATO countries and other Western states to strengthen their ties with Armenia.
On nuclear weapons, Vasiliev said Russia’s defense policy provides for the possible use of nuclear weapons, including in defense of allies, in circumstances involving an existential threat.
Asked whether tactical nuclear weapons could be deployed in other CSTO member states, he noted that three CSTO countries are parties to the Central Asian Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone Treaty.
Vasiliev said the CSTO was closely monitoring the security situation in Afghanistan, particularly the risks of terrorism, extremism and drug trafficking.
According to him, the organization was implementing a program aimed at strengthening Tajikistan’s border with Afghanistan, with Dushanbe expected to submit requests for the equipment and other resources it needs.
The envoy said CSTO members also adopted measures to strengthen the organization’s defense capabilities, including plans to develop collective aviation forces and create a mobile air-defense capability.
The measures are expected to be submitted to CSTO leaders for approval in November, although practical work has already begun, he said.
Vasiliev said the organization was also assessing how military experience from the Ukraine conflict could be incorporated into CSTO exercises.
On relations with NATO, he said the CSTO had remained open to dialogue with European and international security organizations, but claimed NATO had shown no reciprocal interest.
The official added that Russia and Belarus proposed developing a new security architecture in Eurasia and that related discussions were underway within the CSTO.
—