Armenian Foreign Minister to Miss CSTO Meeting in Kyrgyzstan

Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan will not attend the upcoming meeting of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) Council of Foreign Ministers in Kyrgyzstan, according to a statement by Armenian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Ani Badalyan.

The ministers are convening today in the Kyrgyz city of Cholpon-Ata.

Earlier, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated that Yerevan had frozen its involvement in the CSTO due to alleged threats to the republic's sovereignty. Last December, he said that relations between Armenia and the CSTO had passed the point of no return. Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan later said at an international security forum in Warsaw that the country was assessing the risks of a possible withdrawal from the CSTO. In turn, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova noted that such a step would not improve Armenia's security, adding that Yerevan’s return to full-scale participation in the organization would take time.