Armenia's Pashinyan to skip CSTO summit in Moscow chaired by Putin

In brief

• Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan will not attend the CSTO summit in Moscow on 11 November, chaired by Vladimir Putin.
• Russian officials say the summit may suspend Armenia's membership or strip its voting rights over unpaid dues.
• Pashinyan says Armenia has exhausted its interest in the CSTO and wants EU membership by 2027–2028.

Pashinyan's absence from the summit

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan will skip the CSTO summit in Moscow on 11 November, according to his press secretary, Melania Harutyunyan (Пашинян не поедет в Москву на саммит ОДКБ – udf.name) (Премьер Армении не поедет в Москву на саммит ОДКБ под председательством Путина – themoscowtimes.com). Instead, Pashinyan will travel to Turkey for the UN climate conference COP31, which Anadolu says will bring together leaders from 95 countries.

Possible sanctions inside the bloc

Russia's Foreign Ministry has said the summit may consider suspending Armenia's membership or removing its right to vote in the organisation. Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Pankin said any such decision would stay in force until Yerevan pays arrears it has not settled for more than two years. The Russian state-linked outlet Krasnaya Vesna also reported that the summit would take place on 11 November in Moscow with Putin attending (Путин примет участие в саммите ОДКБ 11 ноября в Москве – rossaprimavera.ru). These are Russian claims; the Armenian government has not confirmed that a suspension is on the agenda.

Pashinyan's stance on the CSTO

Pashinyan said on 5 November that Armenia had exhausted its interest in the CSTO, which also includes Belarus, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. He also said Armenia was ready to apply for European Union membership in 2027–2028.

Background to the rift

Yerevan froze its participation in the CSTO in February 2024, after the bloc did not help Armenia during its armed conflict with Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh. Pashinyan has called the organisation a "bubble alliance" and claimed some members had "planned the war" together with Baku. Relations between Armenia and Russia worsened again in spring 2026 over Yerevan's rapprochement with the West.