Pashinyan: We will decide and leave the CSTO. We will not allow Lukashenka to become our guarantor again
The Prime Minister of Armenia, during election debates, announced a possible withdrawal from the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), writes news.am.
Nikol Pashinyan. Photo: Mikhail Metzel, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP
"If necessary, we will leave the CSTO." Nikol Pashinyan stated this during election debates on Public Television, answering a question from Narek Karapetyan, nephew of the leader of the "Strong Armenia" party.
— We will decide; foreign agents will not decide what to do. We will not allow Lukashenka to become our guarantor again, — Pashinyan noted.
— What does it mean: frozen membership in the CSTO? It doesn't work — leave, — added Karapetyan, calling for the creation of a guarantor between Armenia and Azerbaijan first.
— Well, we will leave the CSTO. Are you trying to scare us? Neither you nor your uncle decide. We will decide and leave. And the guarantors are Armenia, the state, the army, — Pashinyan emphasized.
Earlier, Lukashenka advised the residents of Armenia to be careful when choosing between Russia and Europe — "so as not to repeat what happened in Ukraine."
Parliamentary elections will be held in Armenia on Sunday. Russia is betting on Samvel Karapetyan's "Strong Armenia."