No official representative of Armenia will visit Belarus while Lukashenko is president. This was stated by Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan during a speech in parliament.

“One of the leaders of the CSTO stated that he participated in the preparation of the war against Armenia, supported, believed, and wished for the victory of Azerbaijan. After this, should I discuss issues with the President of Belarus in the CSTO format?” Pashinyan said. He added that the next logical step after freezing membership in the CSTO would be Armenia’s withdrawal from this organization.

Earlier, President of Belarus Lukashenko called Azerbaijan’s military operation in Karabakh a “war of liberation” and offered Baku assistance in the post-war restoration of the territories.

The day before, Pashinyan said in parliament that the country was going to withdraw from the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), but the timing had not yet been determined. He said that the country’s former authorities entered into a “bubble union,” and then it turned out that it did not protect Armenia. In addition, recently the Speaker of the Armenian Parliament Alen Simonyan said that “Russia “cheated” and deceived” his country.

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.