Lavrov Says Moscow Won't Push to Boot Armenia Out of CSTO

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Tuesday that Moscow will not vote to expel Armenia from the Collective Security Treaty Organization. Speaking to reporters, he confirmed Yerevan still hasn't settled its debt to the Moscow-led bloc. His tone stayed deliberate: Russia, he said, is not slamming the door.

Lavrov pointed to Article 25 of the organization's rules. Under that provision, a country whose budget arrears run past two years must lose its voting rights. He laid out the mechanism without saying Moscow intends to trigger it.

Armenia froze its CSTO status back in 2024 and has not paid its membership fee since — a step widely read as Yerevan nudging its policies closer to the European Union's. Lavrov also said Moscow never received an application from Armenia to withdraw from either the CSTO or the Eurasian Economic Union.

The comments land alongside Lavrov's other remarks Tuesday, when he accused the European Union of using immediate ceasefire proposals to buy time for Ukraine, telling reporters Moscow will not agree to another truce without knowing what comes next.