On November 22, Alen Simonyan, the Speaker of the National Assembly of Armenia, said that he, like the Prime Minister and other senior officials of his country, refused to participate in the meeting of the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) held in Minsk this week. Simonyan said he informed his colleagues from CSTO countries about his decision: "There is no answer from them so far. I think it will not happen at all. I am sure that the reason for my decision not to participate is clear to them." However, the speaker added that this does not mean freezing of relations: "Armenia has not decided to leave the CSTO, but I believe that my participation in this event would not be an appropriate action in the current situation. The situation is that the CSTO does not comply with its obligations and has not complied with them in the past."

Voices from Russia

Russian presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Moscow regrets that Armenia will not participate in the Collective Security Treaty Organization summit in Minsk on November 23 and hopes that Yerevan will continue its work within the CSTO. "Certainly, we can express regret that there will be no high-level participation of Armenia in this summit tomorrow. We hope for participation at the working, expert level. But, of course, we count on Armenia to continue its work within the organization's framework," the Kremlin spokesman noted.

Moreover, Konstantin Zatulin, the First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on CIS Affairs, Eurasian Integration and Relations with Compatriots, said that he had warned about the consequences of Nikol Pashinyan's coming to power from the point of view of Russian-Armenian relations, but he was not listened to. The Russian politician expressed fear that the recent trends toward deterioration of bilateral relations may, in the future, call into question the stay of the 102nd Russian military base in Gyumri, Armenia's membership in the CSTO and the EAEU.

At the same time, Zatulin criticized the reaction of the Collective Security Treaty Organization to the events of September 2022. The Russian MP believes that the CSTO was set up a year ago when Azerbaijani troops advanced deep into Armenia. "This really happened. We should have reacted immediately, at least called for it, made public statements, and so on. We started to have a delayed reaction. And this is what Pashinyan took advantage of. He is a very skillful manipulator, he is a manipulator. This is the only thing he knows how to do, and he does it. And I have to say that the number of trust in Russia is certainly falling in Armenia itself because of the brainwashing on the Internet, on television, and so on, from morning till night. And we have to fight it," he concluded.

Furthermore, commenting on statements by Armen Grigoryan, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Armenia is taking steps to change its foreign policy orientation radically.

"Of course, one would like to understand this. Not only to hear or read it as statements - how it is seen in practical terms at all. In my opinion, this is a blatant attempt to hide the true intentions. It is clear that we are talking about a radical change in the orientation of the republic in foreign affairs. In my opinion, this is being done very clearly, at the prompting of the West," Zakharova said.

On the other hand, she said, the Armenian authorities are trying to camouflage all this. "It is so obvious and clear that it is impossible to hide it behind such words and formulations," the Russian Foreign Ministry's representative added.

Armenia does not cut relations fully

Imangali Tasmagambetov, the Secretary General of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, will visit Yerevan after the CSTO summit in Minsk and hand over the signed decisions to the Armenian side for joining them.

On November 23, Belarusian Security Council State Secretary Alexander Volfovich said that Armenia has not blocked any decision of the CSTO summit. "The Belarusian Foreign Ministry, together with the Armenian Foreign Ministry, has agreed on all the documents that have been submitted to the summit with the participation of the heads of state," the administrative head of the Security Council said. "This also speaks about mutual understanding, including from the Armenian side, in solving the issues, which today are entrusted to the organization," he stated.

Additionally, Deputy Head of Armenian Foreign Ministry Mnatsakan Safaryan said that Armenia's current agenda does not include the withdrawal from the Collective Security Treaty Organization and the withdrawal of the Russian military base from the territory of the republic.

Asked how he assesses the relations between Yerevan and Moscow amid the ongoing mutual accusations, Safaryan noted that the countries have working relations. "Naturally, there are disagreements on some issues. We continue to work on responding to them," the deputy minister summarized.