Armenia does not take part in the meeting of the CSTO Council of Defense Ministers in Almaty. Previously, Yerevan refused to be present at all sites of this military-political bloc under the auspices of Russia.

At the ongoing meeting of the CSTO Council of Defense Ministers in Almaty, the head of the Russian Ministry of Defense Belousov noted that “NATO and the EU, with their course towards confrontation with Russia, are causing an increase in tension in Georgia and Armenian-Azerbaijani relations. Individual countries of the Alliance are striving to strengthen their positions in the Caucasus, thereby gaining access to the resources of the Caspian Sea and direct access to Central Asia.”

Recently, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan accused two CSTO member countries of providing assistance to Azerbaijan during the Second Karabakh War.

“In 2020, our allies took part in the preparations for the war, not on our side,” he noted during a speech in parliament.

Observers immediately identified these countries as the Russian Federation and Belarus.

The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) is a regional international organization created to “protect the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity” of its member states. It includes the Russian Federation, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.