One of Russia’s longtime allies says Putin’s NATO rival is now a threat to his country

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Kazakhstan in October 2022.

A former close ally of Russia said that President Vladimir Putin’s NATO-style alliance, far from offering security guarantees, now “creates threats” for his country.

Armenia recently froze its membership in the six-nation Collective Security Treaty Organization of post-Soviet states, which has been seen as Putin’s answer to NATO.

The CSTO also includes Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan.

Speaking at an event Wednesday, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said the bloc “doesn’t ensure its security obligations towards Armenia,” according to the state media agency Armenpress.

He went on to say the CSTO in fact “creates threats for Armenia’s security and Armenia’s future existence, sovereignty, and statehood.”

Armenia has increasingly pulled away from the bloc since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In February 2023, Pashinyan said “We are not Russia’s ally” when it comes to the conflict.

The latest remarks come amid Armenia’s broader attempts to reduce its reliance on Russian military support and to diversify its security partnerships, Armenian Weekly noted.

In late 2022, Pashinyan distanced himself from Putin in a group photo.

Armenia has not officially exited the CSTO but has spent months teasing its departure from it, following a year of snubs to the organization.

Pashinyan first said in February that he was freezing Armenia’s membership, after months of not showing up at numerous CSTO events.

Experts have previously told B-17 that developments within the CSTO have damaged Putin’s prestige.

The alliance is widely seen as Putin’s attempt to cement Russia’s great-power status with the leadership of a NATO-style collective defense bloc — but in practice, this has rarely worked.

Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Uzbekistan have all left the CSTO.

Armenia feels it is justified in pulling away.

When Armenia appealed for help last year during clashes with neighboring Azerbaijan, Putin refused to send troops — a move that infuriated Pashinyan.

Asked Wednesday whether Armenia would restore its membership, Pashinyan said this would happen only if he got substantial answers to questions he had asked of the bloc for several years, Armenpress reported.

“The more no answers are heard, the more Armenia is distancing itself from the CSTO with every minute and second,” he said, per the outlet.

Addressing whether his country had reached the point of no return with the CSTO, Pashinyan added: “If we haven’t crossed it, then there is big likelihood that we will.”