In an interview with France24 TV channel on February 22, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said the Collective Security Treaty regarding Armenia has not been implemented, and Yerevan has frozen its participation in the organization (CSTO). 

"In our opinion, the Collective Security Treaty regarding Armenia has not been implemented, especially in 2021-2022, and this could not go unnoticed by us. We froze our participation in this treaty. We will see what will happen next," Pashinyan noted. Responding to French journalists, the prime minister pointed out that the Collective Security Treaty about Yerevan was not implemented, especially in 2021-2022, due to the lack of political assessment of Azerbaijan's aggression against Armenia's sovereignty. "This could not go without our attention. We have suspended our participation. We will see what will happen next," Pashinyan said.

When asked about the possible closure of the Russian 102-military base on Armenian territory, Pashinyan did not give a specific answer. "This topic is not on the agenda," he limited himself to such a statement. At the same time, he emphasized that the Russian military base is located in Armenia outside the CSTO framework, and this is an entirely different treaty-legal dimension.

Pashinyan added that peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan is unthinkable at the moment. "If Azerbaijan considers Armenia as 'western Azerbaijan' and also in light of the recent attack, this is impossible; at this moment, this peace is unthinkable," Pashinyan emphasized. "If we take into account Azerbaijan's statements, we can conclude that a new attack against Armenia is very likely. And Azerbaijan's recent attack - we demanded an investigation, but despite that, Azerbaijan is using the situation to fuel its rhetoric. All this makes us think that Azerbaijan is preparing a new attack against Armenia," he added.

On February 23, the Secretariat of the Collective Security Treaty Organization commented on Pashinyan's statements. "Pashinyan's thesis about freezing Armenia's participation in the CSTO apparently refers to non-participation in the organization's events," the CSTO secretariat said. At the same time, the organization noted that the CSTO Secretariat had not received any statements from official Yerevan on the suspension of membership.

Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov noted that  Armenia has not officially notified Russia about suspending its Collective Security Treaty Organization membership. "The Armenian side has not taken any official action in this regard," the Kremlin spokesman noted. At the same time, Peskov pointed out that Moscow intends to ask Yerevan to clarify the meaning of these statements, as details are important in this situation, and expressed hope that Armenia would give explanations. Peskov specified that Vladimir Putin did not communicate with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan after his words about 'freezing' the republic's participation in the CSTO.