The key facts
- Sergey Lebedev: Armenia has not declared its withdrawal from the CIS; Pashinyan personally confirmed its participation
- In the CSTO, Yerevan has suspended its participation since 2024 and is not paying dues, formally remaining a member
- Armenia's parliament is not considering leaving the CSTO; on November 11, the question of restricting the country's rights may have been discussed in Moscow
Armenia remains in the CIS but is distancing itself from the CSTO
Armenia has not notified the CIS leadership of plans to leave the Commonwealth. This was stated at a forum on collective security in Moscow by the organization's Secretary General Sergey Lebedev in a conversation with TASS. According to him, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan personally told him that the republic remains in the CIS: «We have not heard a single statement saying that they intend to leave». The Secretary General added that in October Pashinyan took part in the CIS summit in Turkmenistan, where he spoke about Armenia's work on the Commonwealth's common priorities and promised support to Uzbekistan, which holds the chairmanship.
The situation in the CSTO looks different
The position on the CIS contrasts with Armenia's situation in another organization — the CSTO. Since 2024, Yerevan has suspended its participation in the bloc's work and stopped paying membership dues, although it formally retains its membership. As reported by Life.ru citing member of the parliamentary defense and security commission Gegam Manukyan, Armenia's parliament is not yet considering the question of leaving the CSTO, but the country's further participation in the organization remains in question. CSTO Secretary General Taalatbek Masadykov previously suggested that as early as November 11, at a meeting of the Collective Security Council in Moscow, the restriction of Armenia's rights could be discussed due to the accumulated arrears in dues.
What is known and what remains unclear
Thus, two different tracks are confirmed: in the CIS, Armenia continues to participate fully — the organization's Secretary General stated this directly — while in the CSTO the country has in effect frozen its membership for years, neither paying dues nor taking part in the work. No official decision to leave either structure has been made: in the CIS, according to Lebedev, no statements have been made, and in Armenia's parliament, according to Manukyan, the CSTO question is not on the agenda. It is unknown what decision on restricting Armenia's rights, the possibility of which Masadykov allowed for, was or will be made at the meeting of the Collective Security Council.
