Armenia refused to participate in the CSTO meeting even at the deputy minister level

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Mirzoyan and the head of the country's Ministry of Defense Papikyan will not take part in the meetings within the CSTO in Minsk on November 22. Speaker of Parliament Simonyan made a similar decision.

“Armenia has not yet made a decision on leaving the organization, but I believe that my participation in the current situation is inappropriate,” Simonyan noted.

Armenia will not be represented at the CSTO Council of Foreign Ministers even at the level of deputy minister. On November 14, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced that he would not be able to take part in the CSTO meeting in Minsk. Previously, he criticized the pro-Russian organization aimed at ensuring the collective security of a number of post-Soviet countries for not providing support to Armenia.

Последние новости
Former Georgian Interior Ministry Official: Banned Substance Used to Disperse Rally at Central Election Commission in 2020
Politics
Former Georgian Interior Ministry Official: Banned Substance Used to Disperse Rally at Central Election Commission in 2020
8 December 2025

Former Georgian Interior Ministry official Lasha Shergelashvili, who served as the head of the Armaments Department of the Special Operations Directorate, said on Formula TV that a banned substance was used to suppress a protest outside the Central Election Commission in 2020. When asked if he had any suspicions, he replied that he "knew for sure that it was used" as he was there at the time.

The Speaker of the Russian State Duma questioned Georgia's prospects for European integration due to its adoption of an anti-LGBT law
Politics
The Speaker of the Russian State Duma questioned Georgia's prospects for European integration due to its adoption of an anti-LGBT law
8 December 2025

Russian State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin recalled that anti-LGBT laws have been in effect in Russia for three years, prohibiting any propaganda of LGBT rights, pedophilia, and gender reassignment. He also noted that, according to the amendment to the country's Constitution, "marriage is a union between a man and a woman," emphasizing that this is the choice of Russian citizens.

Regions of the North Caucasus Federal District (NCFD) have demonstrated the lowest alcohol consumption in Russia
Society
Regions of the North Caucasus Federal District (NCFD) have demonstrated the lowest alcohol consumption in Russia
8 December 2025

Alcohol consumption among Russians has been steadily declining. November 2025 saw the eighth consecutive monthly decline, bringing the figures close to the minimum levels of 1997-1998.

The North Caucasus diaspora in Turkey has demanded an end to the criminal prosecution of a Circassian activist in Russia
Human rights
The North Caucasus diaspora in Turkey has demanded an end to the criminal prosecution of a Circassian activist in Russia
8 December 2025

Representatives of the North Caucasus diaspora in Turkey have protested the criminal prosecution of Larisa Tuptsokova, a Circassian activist from Adygea, and demanded that the republic's authorities cease pressuring her and her supporters.