Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian has said his country has frozen its membership in the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) as Yerevan continues to distance itself from Moscow amid a souring of bilateral relations.
Pashinian said in an interview with France 24 television channel on February 22 that the move comes after Moscow began several months ago to openly call on Armenian citizens to overthrow his government, and that the deluge of propaganda against him "has never stopped."
The Pashinian government has long criticized the CSTO for its "failure to respond to the security challenges" facing Armenia.
Armenian authorities have accused Russian peacekeepers deployed to Nagorno-Karabakh in 2020 of failing to stop Azerbaijan's lightning offensive in September that ended with Baku regaining control over the breakaway region that for three decades was under ethnic Armenians' control.
Moscow has rejected the accusations, arguing that its troops didn’t have a mandate to intervene and charging that Pashinian had effectively paved the way for the collapse of separatist rule in the region by previously acknowledging Azerbaijan's sovereignty over it.
Still, Pashinian declined to attend a CSTO summit in Minsk in November and said in a televised Q&A session then that any decision about Yerevan's continued membership in the grouping -- which includes Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan -- would be based on Armenia's "own state interests."
In the interview, the Armenian prime minister also expressed concern over the detention in Armenia in November of Russian citizen Dmitry Setrakov, who was mobilized to the ongoing war in Ukraine.
Rights watchdogs said at the time that Setrakov was detained by Russian military police, but Yerevan has not commented on the situation and Setrakov is said to have since appeared in police custody in Russia.
SEE ALSO: Russian Soldier Who Fled To Armenia Found In Police Custody In RussiaWhen asked about the possible closure of Russia's military base in the northwestern Armenian city of Gyumri, Pashinian said that "that issue is not on the agenda" at this point.
Pashinian told France 24 that Setrakov's detention was "an abduction" and that "we cannot tolerate illegal actions on our territory."
Armenia has been on edge since the Azerbaijan regained control of Nagorno-Karabakh amid fears Baku remains hostile toward the country.
Pashinian said he thinks Azerbaijan considers Armenia "Western Azerbaijan" and plans to attack Armenia and seize other Armenian territories.
Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry issued a statement on February 23 calling Pashinian's words about Baku's plans to attack Armenia "unfounded allegations...intended to inflict another blow to the peace process by deliberately inflaming tensions in the region."