Armenia has officially notified the CSTO Secretariat that it will refrain from signing the CSTO 2024 Budget Decision and will not participate in financing the organization’s activities under this decision. The Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) confirmed this in response to a question about whether Armenia intends to pay its CSTO membership fee by the end of the year, Factor.am reports.

Earlier, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Pankin stated that if Armenia does not contribute to the CSTO budget by the end of 2025, member states might consider "various scenarios," but emphasized that "probably, no one will be expelled."

The MFA’s response clarified: "Since assuming obligations is carried out by joining a decision, and Armenia has not signed the CSTO Collective Security Council’s limited-format decision on the 2024 budget, it has not undertaken any financial obligations."

The ministry also noted that, according to CSTO internal procedures, budget-related information is not public. However, the MFA emphasized that issues related to this matter are regulated by the CSTO Charter and relevant documents.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan previously stated in an interview with France 24 that Armenia’s CSTO membership is effectively frozen. The Kremlin responded, asserting that Armenia had not submitted any official notification regarding membership suspension.

The Armenian MFA had earlier announced that Armenia had halted its financial contributions to the organization and would not join the 2024 budget decision adopted on November 23, 2023. However, the ministry stated that Armenia does not oppose the budget being approved in a limited format.

During the Second Global Armenian Summit in 2024, the Prime Minister declared that the CSTO poses a threat to Armenia’s security, sovereignty, and statehood.