Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Monday said he would be “very happy” if the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) expelled Armenia, declaring that Yerevan’s interest in the military alliance had been exhausted.
The blunt statement drew an immediate response from the Kremlin, which said Armenia was free to leave the bloc if it no longer considered membership to be in its national interest.
Pashinyan told parliament that his government had no intention of resuming active participation in the CSTO during the next five years.
“We have raised questions with the CSTO, but we have not received answers to any of them,” Pashinyan said.
“I can say with confidence that we will not intensify our activities within the organization.”
He then went further, saying he would welcome a decision by the alliance itself to remove Armenia.
“I would be very happy if the organization decided to expel the Republic of Armenia from the CSTO, as this would free us from the dilemma of whether or not to leave,” Pashinyan said.
He added that Armenia had already put its concerns to the organization without receiving satisfactory answers and that Yerevan’s “interest in the CSTO has been exhausted.”
Armenia formally froze its participation in CSTO activities in 2024 after repeatedly criticizing the Russian-led alliance for failing to meet what Yerevan regarded as its security obligations.
Armenia is “free to leave”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded that Armenia could formally withdraw if it no longer saw a reason to remain in the organization.
“If Yerevan, based on its national interests, no longer needs membership in such an important organization for ensuring regional security, then it is free to make the appropriate decision and leave the organization,” Peskov said.
Peskov noted that Armenia had until now frozen its participation without formally withdrawing.
The exchange underscored the widening rupture between Yerevan and Moscow, once Armenia’s dominant security partner.
Russia maintains a military base in Armenia, while Yerevan remains a member of the Moscow-led Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU).
But Armenia has steadily deepened ties with Europe amid anger over Russia’s perceived failure to protect the country during conflicts with neighboring Azerbaijan.
EU membership
On the same day, Pashinyan said Armenia would soon begin preparing a formal application to join the EU – another major step away from Moscow’s traditional sphere of influence.
“We may begin this process in the near future, especially given the urgent requests from our EAEU partners,” he said.
Pashinyan said a referendum on EU membership would follow once Armenia had formally applied and had greater clarity about its accession prospects and the reforms required.
Armenia’s parliament passed legislation in 2025 launching the process of seeking EU membership.
Pashinyan also pointed to Russian restrictions on Armenian exports, saying they contradict EAEU rules and have created what he described as a crisis within the Moscow-led economic bloc.
Russia has repeatedly warned Armenia that membership in the EU would be incompatible with remaining in the EAEU.
On Monday, Peskov said that EU and EAEU rules on trade, customs, and sanitary standards do not align and argued that moving toward European standards would create “deep contradictions” for Armenia.
He also pointed to Turkey’s decades-long stalled EU membership bid as a warning to Yerevan.
“I always recommend here that we keep in mind the experience of Turkey and a number of other countries, whose applications were submitted decades and decades ago, yet they’re still in the same situation today,” Peskov said.
Turkey has been an EU candidate since 1999, with its accession negotiations effectively frozen for years.
Moscow has increased pressure on Yerevan as Armenia moves closer to Europe, including through restrictions on Armenian imports.
Russian President Vladimir Putin also invoked Ukraine when warning Armenia in June against pursuing deeper European integration, saying the “Ukrainian scenario” had begun with Kyiv’s EU ambitions.
Pashinyan, who first came to power following mass protests in 2018, was re-elected in June after increasingly positioning Armenia toward closer cooperation with the EU and other Western partners.
His latest comments suggest that the distancing from Moscow is no longer limited to freezing Armenia’s participation in Russian-led institutions: Yerevan is openly discussing a future outside the CSTO while preparing its next formal step toward the EU.