Armenian media reports say Yerevan has decided to boycott the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) military maneuvers, which kicked off near Kazakhstan's largest city, Almaty, on September 26 with the participation of Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan.
Azatutyun.am reports that Armenia has been boycotting all CSTO events for the past two years or so after accusing the Russian-led military alliance “of failing to defend its territorial integrity in border clashes with Azerbaijan in September 2022.”
The ongoing military drill in Kazakhstan is at least the third military exercise Armenian armed forces skip since October last year amid an ongoing rift in Yerevan-Moscow relations, started the same day Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan boycotted the meeting of CSTO foreign ministers on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York City.
Russian-Armenian relations have worsened significantly over the past two years after Yerevan accused Russian troops deployed in and around the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh of not doing enough to stop a lightning offensive launched by Baku in September 2023.
The clash ended with Azerbaijan's regaining control over the region after it was under ethnic Armenian control for three decades.
Recall, a command-staff drill for the CSTO Collective Peacekeeping Force, dubbed “Indestructible Brotherhood-2024”, is being conducted in Kazakhstan from September 26 to October 7.
The priorities identified by Kazakhstan, which is chairing the Organization this year, are to improve the issues of ensuring the operational deployment of Troops (Collective Forces), including the unimpeded transit of contingents, as well as the development of the CSTO peacekeeping potential.
Commander of Kazakhstan’s Airborne Assault Troops, Major-General Almaz Dzhumakeyev, is in overall command of the ongoing exercise focusing on the preparation and conduct of a peacekeeping operation by the CSTO Collective Peacekeeping Force.
The Collective Security Treaty Organization currently includes Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.
Armenia's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced on June 12 this year that his country would pull out of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), amid a widening rift with Moscow. He did not provide details on when and how.
