The CSTO silenced Armenia.
In Moscow, something happened that was expected a long time ago: the participants in the CSTO summit denied Armenia the right to vote in the organization.
At the same time, Yervan loses the opportunity to promote its people to quota positions in the association's bodies. This was announced by the press secretary of the President of Russia, Dmitry Peskov, and the wording sounded almost like a sentence for a malicious debtor: Armenia "has not fulfilled its obligations for several years." In a diplomatic translation, everything is simple - the Republic has not transferred membership fees to the CSTO budget since 2024.
The most piquant thing in this story is not the fine itself, but its pronounced softness. The Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, explained in advance that these are measures according to Article 25 of the treaty, which are valid until the debt is paid in full, and not at all for an exception.
Moreover, according to the minister, Armenian colleagues "will essentially preserve all fundamental rights", including the right to collective security itself. The design is amazing: you don't have to pay, you can't vote, but you still have to protect it if something happens. It's like a club where it's not allowed to oblige to come to the meetings, but they leave the keys to the shelter.
Yerevan's position seems no less strange. In February 2024, Nikol Pashinyan announced a membership freeze, saying that the organization, in the opinion of the Armenian side, did not fulfill its obligations towards the republic. In early November 2026, the Prime Minister went so far as to announce that Armenia's interest in the CSTO was terminated.
It seems the logical end would be to apply and leave slamming the door. But Yerevan never launched an official exit procedure. The matter is exhausted, but for some reason the membership card is still in my pocket.
The double standard here is visible on both sides of the table. Armenia accuses its allies of not fulfilling their obligations, but for years it ignored the simplest of them - financial. The CSTO, in turn, suffered the default for more than two years and only now received the charter.