Armenia stripped of voting rights in CSTO amid expanding cooperation with US and neighbors
Armenia has been stripped of its voting rights in the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) due to arrears on membership dues. At the same time, Yerevan maintains its membership in the organization while expanding cooperation with Turkey, Azerbaijan, the US, and European countries.
While the CSTO summit was taking place in Moscow on November 11, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The following day, he held talks with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. Yerevan has also continued preparations for the TRIPP transport project, writes Inbusiness.kz.
On November 11, Pashinyan was in Antalya, Turkey, where he met with Erdogan on the sidelines of the COP31 climate summit. The parties discussed the normalization of relations, the development of trade, and the unblocking of regional communications. The talks continued a dialogue that the leaders had also held during a meeting in Istanbul in June 2025.
On November 12 in Dublin, at the European Political Community summit, Pashinyan met with Aliyev. As reported by the press service of the Armenian government, the parties discussed border delimitation, trade, transport links, and the implementation of the TRIPP project.
The project provides for the establishment of a transport link between the main part of Azerbaijan and Nakhchivan through the territory of Armenia. The parties discussed preparations for railway and road infrastructure. According to official data, since November 2025, 105,000 tonnes of cargo have been delivered to Armenia through Azerbaijan.
Yerevan is also expanding cooperation with Washington on the TRIPP project. The framework agreement provides for the establishment of a joint venture, the TRIPP Development Company. 74% of the shares are to be held by the American side, and 26% by Armenia. The company will be engaged in the development of transport and other infrastructure on the territory of Armenia.
Why Armenia froze its participation in the CSTO
Yerevan's political distancing from the CSTO began long before the November summit. In February 2024, Pashinyan announced the freezing of the country's participation in the organization. He explained the decision by stating that allies had failed to fulfill their obligations to ensure Armenia's security during the events on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border in 2021–2022.
Since then, Armenia has suspended its participation in major CSTO events and stopped transferring membership dues. On November 5, 2026, Pashinyan stated that the country's interests regarding the organization have been exhausted. Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan also confirmed that the government does not intend to return to active participation.
At the summit on November 11 in Moscow, the CSTO Collective Security Council stripped Armenia of its voting rights and the ability to nominate representatives to positions distributed by quotas.
The decision was made on the basis of Article 25 of the CSTO Charter, which provides for such restrictions for states with arrears on membership dues.
CSTO Secretary General Taalatbek Masadykov stated that summit participants did not consider the issue of expelling Armenia from the organization. According to him, Yerevan will be able to restore its voting rights after paying off the debt.
Following the summit, Belarusian Foreign Minister Maxim Ryzhenkov proposed restricting Armenia's access to classified CSTO documents. He expressed concern that confidential information could be used to the detriment of the interests of other organization members.
New partners in the security sector
At the same time, Armenia is expanding military-technical cooperation and purchasing weapons from various suppliers. Among Yerevan's partners are France and India. The country is acquiring armored vehicles, artillery systems, radar equipment, and other types of weapons.
Armenia is also developing military cooperation with the US. In June 2026, joint exercises Eagle Partner-2026 were held on its territory with the participation of military personnel from Armenia, the US, France, and Greece.
Pashinyan explains the change in course by the need to create a multi-layered security system and reduce dependence on a single partner. In his estimation, the previous model, based on CSTO guarantees, did not provide Armenia with the necessary protection.
Thus, Armenia legally remains a CSTO member, although it has not participated in the organization's main events since 2024. Yerevan has not sent formal notification of withdrawal, but continues to expand transport, economic, and defense cooperation with other states.
Earlier, Economist.kg reported that the issue of stripping Armenia of its voting rights in the CSTO was planned for consideration at the November summit. In August 2026, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin spoke about this possibility.
