Armenia does not file for withdrawal from CSTO - organization rep

MOSCOW. Nov 16 (Interfax) - Armenia has not formally requested withdrawal from the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), Chief of the CSTO Joint Staff Anatoly Sidorov said.

"No official statements have been received from the Armenian leadership, including by the organization. No statements on Armenia's withdrawal from the Collective Security Treaty Organization have been made. No documents of the kind have been submitted, I have not personally seen any," Sidorov said at a press conference in Moscow on Thursday.

"As for talk in the organization about the CSTO losing interest in the Caucasus or planning to leave Armenia, well, no one even thinks about this," he said.

"I believe that our wise heads of state will find a solution to the difficulties experienced by the Republic of Armenia," Sidorov said.

"Speaking of the somewhat limited participation of Armenia in the joint events in 2023, anything can happen in a country, so, we do not discuss such decisions. They are still involved in lawmaking, discussion of organization documents, and financing of permanent statutory bodies. So, the process is ongoing," he said.

The CSTO comprises Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.

Official reports said the CSTO Collective Security Council would hold a session in Minsk on November 23 under Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko's chairmanship.

The Armenian government said on November 14 that Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan would not take part in the CSTO summit in Minsk.

The CSTO said on November 14, for its part, that a joint meeting of the CSTO Council of Foreign Ministers, Council of Defense Ministers and Council of Security Council Secretaries would be held in Minsk on November 22, the day before the summit.