Denying Armenia the right to vote in the CSTO solidifies its distance from the military bloc, says Andrey Bykov, a leading researcher at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences. According to him, Yerevan maintains its membership in the organization and the right to collective defense, while it is interested in participating in the EAEU. Deputy Director of the Institute for the Commonwealth of Independent States Vladimir Zherikin noted that Armenia itself will be able to determine the format for continued participation in the work of the CSTO. In his opinion, decisions on the establishment of mobile air defense units and the development of collective aviation forces show that the organization can work without Armenian representatives. The corresponding decision was made on November 11 at the meeting of the Collective Security Council in the Kremlin: until full repayment of the debt on contributions, Armenia is deprived of the right to vote and the opportunity to appoint its citizens to quota positions in the CSTO.