Armenia has decided to stop funding activities of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO). The Armenian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson, Ani Badalyan, announced that Armenia will not participate in financing the organization’s activities in 2023, known as “CSTO 2024”, as per a decision made on November 23. However, Armenia does not object to the approval of the organization’s 2024 budget in a limited format.
Relations between Armenia and Russia, as well as within the CSTO, have intensified following Azerbaijan’s attack in September 2022. Despite Armenia’s demands, the CSTO has not condemned the attack on Armenia and failed to acknowledge Azerbaijan’s occupation of Armenian territories. In response, Yerevan rejected the proposal to deploy CSTO observers on the border and Prime Minister Pashinyan announced that Armenia’s membership in the bloc was de facto frozen in 2024, leaving open the possibility of Armenia leaving the CSTO in the future.
The CSTO consists of six members: Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Belarus. The decision by Armenia to halt funding CSTO activities reflects the strained relations within the organization due to recent events and disagreements between member states.