What’s Happening
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has offered a level of clarification for remarks he made in an interview with France24 on February 22nd, in which he announced that Armenia had frozen their cooperation with the Russian led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO). What exactly this meant, and the potential consequences, were unknown at the time, including to Russia who stated that Armenia had not, through any official means, made any efforts to freeze cooperation with the alliance.
“The Collective Security Treaty has not fulfilled its objectives as far as Armenia is concerned, particularly in 2021 and 2022. And we could not let that happen without taking notice. We have now in practical terms frozen our participation in this treaty. As for what comes next, we shall have to see” -PM Pashinyan
However earlier today, PM Pashinyan offered some clarification on his statement. He clarified that the freezing of cooperation meant that Armenia does not, at this moment, have a permanent representative in the CSTO and does not participate in high level meetings. Notably, he added that Armenia has de facto suspended relations with the CSTO, and may make efforts to officially suspend relations.
Separate from the PM, was Armenian MP Sargis Khandanyan’s own words that stated the freeze was, in essence, no different from how they had been operating beforehand. He said that Armenia hadn’t participated in CSTO activities for over a year, and that the freeze was more of a “political assessment” rather than explicit legal policy.
“We have repeatedly voiced our positions regarding CSTO activity or inaction. It is a concrete record of the situation. Time will show whether or not further processes will follow” -MP Khandanyan
Russian Condemnation
Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs representative, Maria Zakharova, has released a statement condemning the Armenian cooperation freeze, in particular the parts of Pashinyan’s statements that attributed the freeze to failures of the CSTO. Notably, she was also critical of the EU observer mission, which serves to observe the Armenia/Azerbaijan border and report on ceasefire violations as well as other issues which occur on the border.
The EU observer mission was deployed in October of 2022, a few weeks after the attacks Azerbaijan launched upon Armenia from September 12th-14th. The mission has only deployed on the Armenian side, as Azerbaijan has refused them access. The observer mission has been condemned by both Azerbaijan and Russia. It was one of the largest signs of highly increased western interest in Armenia, which has historically been within Russia’s sphere of influence.
Zakharova’s statement may be read below:
“We categorically do not accept the reproaches of the Armenian authorities regarding the alleged failure of the CSTO to fulfill its mandate and obligations towards Yerevan during the well-known events that took place in 2020 and 2021.
The diplomatic differences caused by the freeze is just the latest in a series of issues between Russia and Armenia over Armenia’s perceived failure of Russia to assist it in it’s conflicts with Azerbaijan.
The 2022 clashes spawned a political crisis within Armenia. When the clashes ended on September 14th, PM Pashinyan signalled he was prepared to sign a document which would recognize Artsakh, which was at the time independent, as Azeri territory. After significant protests erupted nationwide Pashinyan walked back on the claim, but has since again signalled Armenia’s intent to recognize Artsakh as Azerbaijan’s territory, as it had been already internationally.
In both the 2021 border breach and the 2022 border clashes, PM Pashinyan called upon the CSTO and Russia individually, requesting assistance in the face of both the Azeri occupation of territory, as well as Azeri military advances. Both times the CSTO refused Armenia’s request, leaving Armenia to, in essence, fend for themselves. While both harmed the relationships between Armenia and Russia/the CSTO, the 2022 clashes in particular did significant damage. Not only did the CSTO fail to come to Armenia’s defence in any meaningful manner, they equally so failed to even issue an official condemnation of Azerbaijan’s attacks upon Armenia.
