Armenian Prime Minister Pashinyan will not participate in the CSTO summit in Minsk

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan told Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko that he will not come to the CSTO summit in Minsk on November 23. In October, Mr. Pashinyan also missed the CIS summit in Bishkek. The Kremlin expressed regret over Mr. Pashinyan’s decision to skip this summit as well.

“Prime Minister Pashinyan informed the President of Belarus that he would not be able to participate in the meeting and expressed the hope that the CSTO partners would treat this decision with understanding,” the statement says. Telegram channel government of Armenia.

Press Secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov during a press call expressed regret over the message from the Armenian authorities. Such meetings, Mr. Peskov added, are a good occasion for “exchange of views” and “compare watches.”

On October 25, Nikol Pashinyan expressed dissatisfaction with the way the CSTO and Russia are fulfilling their allied obligations. Armenia, according to him, needs to diversify relations in the field of national security.

For more details, see the Kommersant text “Mountaineers and Warnings.”

Petr Buzlaev