Armenia could lose its voting rights in the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) over more than two years of unpaid membership dues, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Pankin said on Friday, ahead of a meeting in Moscow on 11 November.
The CSTO Collective Security Council could vote to suspend Armenia's voting rights next week, Pankin told Russian news agency TASS on 6 November.
“Armenia hasn't paid its dues for over two years, so it's entirely possible that the issue will be reviewed and a decision made to temporarily suspend its membership - or, more accurately, deprive it of voting rights - until dues are paid. This is a purely technical matter, stipulated by the charter, a specific article of it. So, that's a possible outcome, but it depends on the president's decision,” he said.
Pankin said Russia, which currently chairs the CSTO, is responsible for setting the organisation's agenda.
“There will be a CSTO summit, preceded by a trilateral meeting of the foreign and defence ministers and the secretaries of the Security Councils. The Armenian issue may not be the most important, but it could be the most interesting for the public, because the CSTO is about cooperation, shared tasks, and goals,” he noted.
Asked whether the issue would be raised at next week's meetings, Pankin said:
“Probably, yes, it could be considered, but it all depends on whether everyone else agrees to consider it or not. I think it will be considered.”
The CSTO's Collective Security Council is due to meet in Moscow on 11 November.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan previously told parliament he would welcome the country's expulsion from the alliance.
He also ruled out stepping up Armenia's involvement in the organisation over the next five years, saying Yerevan's interest in the bloc had waned.
However, Pashinyan offered no clear indication of what might replace CSTO membership, whether through closer ties with Türkiye and Azerbaijan or a potential bid to join NATO, which has not invited Armenia to become a member.
In September 2024, Pashinyan announced that Armenia had frozen its participation in the CSTO, claiming the alliance threatened the country's sovereignty.
A month later, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan told an international security forum in Warsaw that Yerevan was weighing the risks of withdrawing from the organisation.
By December 2024, Pashinyan said relations between Armenia and the CSTO had reached a point of no return.
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