The US State Department replied to an inquiry from the Voice of America Armenian Service regarding Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s remarks concerning Armenia’s CSTO membership and Yerevan’s actions in the defense sector.

“We respect Armenia’s aspirations as an independent country to continue its chosen security relationship, and we support the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries in the region,” the US State Department said.

The US State Department also weighed in on the tensions between Yerevan and Moscow, stating, “Russia is not a dependable and trustworthy ally or partner in the South Caucasus or any other region.”

Regarding the issues between Yerevan and Moscow, the State Department stated that they observed consistently that Russia does not prioritize Armenia’s interests.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan mentioned earlier in an interview with France 24 television that Armenia’s involvement in the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) is presently “frozen.”

“In our opinion, the Collective Security Treaty has not been implemented towards Armenia, especially in 2021-2022. This could not have escaped our attention. We have ‘frozen’ our participation in this treaty. Let’s see what happens next,” Pashinyan said. 

The Secretariat of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) informed Russian news agency Sputnik that it had not received any notifications from Yerevan regarding the suspension of its CSTO membership. 

“To date, the CSTO Secretariat has not received any notices from Yerevan on the suspension of its CSTO membership. As for the thesis on the participation freezing, it seems that we are talking about Armenia’s non-participation in several events that have been held by the organization recently,” the secretariat said.

The Russian Foreign Ministry stated, “We expect comprehensive clarification through bilateral channels regarding Nikol Pashinyan’s statements concerning the freezing of Armenia's participation in the Collective Security Treaty and the organization itself.”