The Russian Foreign Ministry reported on the possible deprivation of Armenia's voting rights in the CSTO

The Collective Security Council of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) may consider next week the issue of depriving Armenia of the right to vote in the organization. This was announced on November 6 by Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Pankin.

"Armenia has not paid its dues for more than two years, so the issue may well be considered and a decision may be made to temporarily suspend its membership — more precisely, to deprive it of the right to vote until the dues are paid," he told TASS.

Pankin stressed that the procedure is purely technical in nature and is prescribed in the charter of the organization. He admitted that a decision could be made, but noted that the outcome depends on the position of the president.

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On November 5, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated that Armenia's interest in the CSTO had dried up. Pashinyan responded accordingly to a journalist's request to comment on the statement by CSTO Secretary General Taalatbek Masadikov on the possible application of Article 25 of the association's Charter against Armenia. According to it, the member states may suspend the nomination of citizens of the debtor state to quota positions within the framework of the CSTO.

On November 4, Masadikov stated that the CSTO council, among other things, may consider depriving Armenia of the right to vote, since for the third year in a row it has not actively participated in the weekly meetings of permanent representatives, and also does not provide the association with membership fees. A few days earlier, on October 28, former CSTO Secretary General Nikolai Bordyuzha called for the exclusion of Armenia from there altogether.