IN BRIEF: Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on EU membership bid, CSTO withdrawal

YEREVAN, August 24. /TASS/. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said he supports Yerevan’s expulsion from the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and would welcome the move. He also said in the parliament that Armenia would soon begin the process of applying for EU membership. TASS has compiled the key points from the Armenian prime minister’s statements. - Armenia will soon begin the process of applying for EU membership, Pashinyan said, adding that Yerevan would at least heed calls from its Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) partners. - He said Armenia could hold a referendum on EU membership or remaining in the Eurasian Economic Union once discussions reach a turning point and it can prepare a roadmap. - Yerevan must first formally apply for EU membership before holding such a referendum, he said. - Pashinyan described the process as requiring extensive work. - Pashinyan said he would be very pleased if the CSTO decided to expel Armenia, noting that the organization’s charter provides for such a measure. - This would free Yerevan from the dilemma of whether to leave the organization, he said. - Pashinyan said Armenia’s 2026-2031 government program does not envisage stepping up its CSTO activities over the next five years, adding that Yerevan’s interest in the organization has run out. - Armenia may leave the CSTO if Yerevan no longer needs its membership, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. - Peskov urged to remember the experience of Turkey and other countries whose EU membership bids have remained unresolved for years. - On March 26, 2025, the Armenian parliament passed a law launching the process of joining the EU. - Russian President Vladimir Putin has said EU integration would automatically end Armenia’s cooperation with the EAEU and cause it to lose all related benefits. - At the May 29 EAEU summit in Astana, the leaders of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan adopted a joint statement supporting a nationwide referendum in Armenia on joining the EU or remaining in the EAEU. - On August 11, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin told TASS that Armenia should decide whether to hold a nationwide referendum on joining the EU or retaining EAEU membership by December, when EAEU leaders are due to discuss possible further steps toward Yerevan. - In September 2024, Pashinyan said Yerevan had frozen its participation in CSTO activities. - He declared that the organization had created threats to Armenia’s sovereignty. - In October 2024, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan said at an international security forum in Warsaw that Yerevan was assessing all risks associated with a possible decision to leave the CSTO. - In December 2024, the Armenian prime minister said relations between Armenia and the CSTO had reached a point of no return. - On June 10, 2026, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said CSTO members agreed to consider applying a charter provision to Armenia over two years of unpaid membership fees. - On August 11, Galuzin told TASS that the CSTO summit on November 11 could consider stripping Armenia of its voting rights in the organization.