Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has decried the Armenian leaders’ “defamation” of Russian soldiers and border guards deployed in Armenia as well as the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO).

Lavrov told Izvestia (via RFE/RL’s Armenian service) on Thursday, March 28 that the Russian-led military alliance did not refuse to defend Armenia and criticized Yerevan for rejecting the proposed deployment of CSTO monitors along the country’s border with Azerbaijan and opting for a similar mission by the European Union instead.

It is now becoming a de facto NATO mission, having been joined by U.S., Canadian and Norwegian personnel, he claimed.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced in late February the effective suspension of Armenia’s membership in the CSTO. He subsequently did not rule out the possibility of leaving the alliance altogether and applying for European Union membership.