Russia will continue to work with Armenia to clarify Yerevan's position on the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and hopes that relations between the countries will remain within the framework of partnership and alliance, said presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov, as reported by TASS.
"As for Armenia, we will continue to work with our Armenian friends. We will be clarifying their position and, of course, we hope that in any case, we will maintain partnership and allied relations," Peskov said in response to a request to comment on Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's statement regarding Armenia's potential exit from the CSTO.
"Every country determines its own priorities. Our priorities are well understood, and we consistently uphold them. These priorities in the field of security and collective security are shared by the member countries of the [CSTO]," said the Kremlin spokesperson. He noted that Armenia is likely also interested in this.
Earlier, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated that the next logical step for Armenia would be to leave the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO).
"I want to remind you that in our government program, we did not confirm that we would remain members of the CSTO. We identified certain questions, the answers to which will determine our decisions. When exactly the exit from the CSTO will happen, we will decide ourselves. This could happen in a month or a year," Pashinyan noted during a parliamentary session on June 13 in his concluding speech on the 2023 budget execution.
