Armenia not to attend CSTO parliamentary meeting in Moscow
An Armenian representative will not participate in the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) Parliamentary Assembly meeting, to be held in Moscow on Dec. 19, the Public Radio of Armenia reported on Dec. 5.
The announcement comes amid a growing rift between Yerevan and Moscow, which was exacerbated when Russia and its "peacekeepers" in Nagorno-Karabakh did not prevent Azerbaijan's armed seizure of the region.
Alen Simonyan, the speaker of the Armenian parliament, relayed the decision to Russian State Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin.
"The delegation of the Armenian parliament will not take part in the meeting either," the spokesperson of the country's legislature said.
This is not Armenia's first recent snub of the Russian-led military coalition that also includes Belarus, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan.
The South Caucasian country also chose not to send representatives to the CSTO summit in Minsk on Nov. 23, attracting criticism from Belarusian and Russian leaders.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan repeatedly criticized Russia as an unreliable ally following Baku's swift capture of Karabakh, which has driven out over 100,000 ethnic Armenians.
Fearing further aggression from Baku's side, Yerevan began fostering military cooperation with Western powers like France, earning yet more disdain from the Kremlin.
Armenia's Deputy Foreign Minister at the same time said that the country is not considering leaving the CSTO nor the expulsion of Russian troops stationed on its territory.
Francis Farrell
