Armenian foreign minister says his country sees no possibility of returning to CSTO

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) - Armenia sees no possibility of returning to the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan said Wednesday.

Speaking at a news conference in Yerevan, he said his country had stopped participating in the organization’s activities.

“We stopped participating in the work of this structure a long time ago, froze our membership, and we will not change our position. We do not see ourselves returning to the CSTO,” he said.

CSTO Secretary General Taalatbek Masadykov earlier said that the issue of expelling Armenia could be raised at a meeting of the organization’s Collective Security Council in Moscow on Nov. 11, 2026.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has also said he would support the country’s expulsion, adding that Yerevan does not intend to increase its engagement with the organization over the next five years.

Armenia froze its participation in the CSTO in 2024. Pashinyan said in December of that year that relations between Armenia and the organization had passed the point of no return.