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Akbar Novruz

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The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) countries have agreed to consider applying the relevant provisions of the organization’s charter to Armenia over Yerevan’s failure to pay its membership contributions for more than two years, AzerNEWS reports.

According to reports, this was stated by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov following a meeting of the CSTO Council of Foreign Ministers in Kazan.

Lavrov said Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan had raised the issue of the CSTO during discussions held on the day of Armenia’s parliamentary elections.

“On election day in Armenia, my colleague Ararat Samvelovich Mirzoyan asked me about the CSTO. He said that we do not pay membership fees because we simply do not participate. This is a direct quote; you can find it,” Lavrov stated.

He noted that CSTO member states discussed the issue during the meeting and agreed to examine the possibility of applying the relevant article of the organization’s charter regarding Armenia’s задолженность to the bloc’s budget.

“Today we discussed what to do in this situation. Armenia has been in debt to the CSTO budget for more than two years, this is stipulated in the organization’s charter, and today we agreed to consider applying the relevant article of the CSTO charter,” Lavrov said.

Relations between Armenia and the CSTO have significantly deteriorated in recent years amid growing tensions between Yerevan and Moscow. Armenia has repeatedly criticized the organization for what it describes as inadequate support during regional security crises, while the Armenian leadership has increasingly moved toward closer cooperation with the European Union and Western partners.

Yerevan has effectively frozen its participation in CSTO activities over the past year, with Armenian officials openly questioning the bloc’s effectiveness and relevance to the country’s security interests.