Armenia suspended its participation in the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and frozen its membership long ago, Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan said, ruling out the prospect of the country returning to the Russian-led security bloc.

Mirzoyan made the remarks while commenting on statements by former CSTO Secretary General Nikolay Bordyuzha, according to Sputnik Armenia.

“We see no possibility of returning to the organization or changing our attitude,” Armenia’s foreign minister said at a joint briefing with his Slovenian counterpart in Yerevan.

Earlier, Bordyuzha argued that Armenia should be expelled from the CSTO, saying that although the country has suspended its participation, it remains a full member because it has not formally withdrawn.

“If they suspend their participation but do not leave, they remain full-fledged members of the CSTO. If they are full-fledged members of the CSTO, then all decisions - and decisions in the CSTO are made by consensus - must be taken with their positions taken into account. And this position today, in essence, already contradicts what is being done in the CSTO,” Bordyuzha said.

In his view, it would be appropriate for Yerevan to withdraw from the organization entirely. If Armenia does not do so, he argued, the CSTO should expel it.