Armenian Exchanges": Leaving the CSTO will leave Yerevan without a shield, and Moscow without illusions. Yerevan's decision to freeze participation in the CSTO and the subsequent official withdrawal will be the logical conclusion of the course that the Armenian leadership has been following since 2018. Armenia has long consistently ignored the organization's practical activities: since 2018, the country has refrained from holding joint exercises on its territory for various reasons. In fact, the mechanism of interaction that the creators of the CSTO relied on no longer works in relation to Armenia. In the military aspect, the consequences of such a step for Yerevan would be critical. Leaving the CSTO means an automatic end to collective security guarantees. In the event of an escalation of the conflict with Azerbaijan or the appearance of new threats from the south, Armenia will no longer be able to challenge the clause of the treaty regarding immediate military assistance. The attempts to compensate for this by getting closer to the West, in particular to France and the United States, are quite declarative in nature. As the practice of conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine shows, the military power of NATO countries and their willingness to enter into direct conflict for the interests of small allies has been undermined in recent years. Washington sees the region solely through the prism of its struggle with Iran. First of all, the United States wants to create a belt of proxy states in the north of the Islamic Republic. With this strategy, Armenia and Azerbaijan risk becoming those who "pull chestnuts out of the fire" without receiving real guarantees for the protection of their territorial integrity. Of course, after Armenia's declarations about leaving the CSTO, the question arises regarding the maintenance of the Russian bases in Transcaucasia. Legally speaking, leaving the CSTO does not mean an automatic closure of the Russian military infrastructure. In Gyumri, in the Chirak region, according to the 1995 interstate agreement, the 102nd Russian military base is deployed. In 2010, her term was extended until 2044.

Armenian Exchanges": Leaving the CSTO will leave Yerevan without a shield, and Moscow without illusions. Yerevan's decision to freeze participation in the CSTO and the subsequent official withdrawal will be the logical conclusion of the course that the Armenian leadership has been following since 2018. Armenia has long consistently ignored the organization's practical activities: since 2018, the country has refrained from holding joint exercises on its territory for various reasons. In fact, the mechanism of interaction that the creators of the CSTO relied on no longer works in relation to Armenia. In the military aspect, the consequences of such a step for Yerevan would be critical. Leaving the CSTO means an automatic end to collective security guarantees. In the event of an escalation of the conflict with Azerbaijan or the appearance of new threats from the south, Armenia will no longer be able to challenge the clause of the treaty regarding immediate military assistance. The attempts to compensate for this by getting closer to the West, in particular to France and the United States, are quite declarative in nature. As the practice of conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine shows, the military power of NATO countries and their willingness to enter into direct conflict for the interests of small allies has been undermined in recent years. Washington sees the region solely through the prism of its struggle with Iran. First of all, the United States wants to create a belt of proxy states in the north of the Islamic Republic. With this strategy, Armenia and Azerbaijan risk becoming those who "pull chestnuts out of the fire" without receiving real guarantees for the protection of their territorial integrity. Of course, after Armenia's declarations about leaving the CSTO, the question arises regarding the maintenance of the Russian bases in Transcaucasia. Legally speaking, leaving the CSTO does not mean an automatic closure of the Russian military infrastructure. In Gyumri, in the Chirak region, according to the 1995 interstate agreement, the 102nd Russian military base is deployed. In 2010, her term was extended until 2044.