13:39,

YEREVAN, MAY 22, ARMENPRESS. The issue of possible withdrawal from the CSTO is still on Armenia’s agenda, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has said.

“Why was that issue raised? Because it is our understanding that the CSTO has withdrawn or is withdrawing from the Republic of Armenia. I mean, if Armenia were to make a de-jure decision on withdrawing from the CSTO, it would take place as a result of Armenia recording that the CSTO has withdrawn from Armenia. By saying the CSTO’s withdrawal I mean first of all the obligations of the organization. I wouldn’t say that this issue has been withdrawn from our agenda, because the issue is being discussed as long as there is an issue to discuss. Look, there is a lot of talk on whether or not the monitoring group should come to Armenia, why it’s not coming. I don’t rule out that Armenia could de-jure make a decision on suspending or freezing its membership to the CSTO, but this could happen only in case when we were to record that the CSTO is withdrawing from Armenia. What else should we do if it has left? That is, if we were to record that the CSTO has withdrawn from Armenia, the [needless] status of a de-jure member of the CSTO would only hinder us from discussing security agenda with other countries,” the PM said.

Pashinyan said that membership to CSTO has blocked Armenia’s opportunities for arms acquisitions from other countries.