As Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan tries to bring domestic discontent back down to a low simmer, he’s turning up the heat on the country’s feud with Russia.
Pashinyan on June 12 confirmed that Armenia will be withdrawing from the Moscow-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO). The next day, his government took aim at Russia’s “mini-me” client-state neighbor, Belarus, recalling Armenia’s ambassador in Minsk.
“I will never visit Belarus as long as Alexander Lukashenko is its president,” Pashinyan told members of the Armenian parliament. “In general, no official representative of Armenia will visit Belarus at this point.”
Armenian anger with Belarus appears to be justified. According to a report published by the American news site Politico, Belarus was a regular supplier of weaponry to Armenia’s arch enemy Azerbaijan from 2018-2022. During that period, Armenia and Belarus were ostensibly CSTO allies.
Belarus retaliated by recalling its ambassador in Yerevan. A Belarusian Foreign Ministry statement characterized Pashinyan’s action as an attempt to deflect public attention in Armenia away from domestic discontent connected to the government’s efforts to forge a peace deal with Azerbaijan. The Armenian capital Yerevan has been rocked by ongoing anti-government protests, which turned violent on June 12.
“We all see what a difficult internal political situation is developing in Armenia today. … But what we don’t understand is what Belarus has to do with it,” said Belarusian Foreign Ministry representative Anatoly Glaz.
The Armenian-Russian strife is metastasizing beyond the spat with Belarus and the CSTO. The recent visit of Armenian officials to the Ukrainian town of Bucha, a site of documented Russian war crimes, has further strained Yerevan’s relations with Moscow. The visit by Armenia’s ambassador to Ukraine, Vladimir Karapetyan, and Tigran Ter-Margaryan, head of Yerevan’s Nor Nork district, drew a strong rebuke from Russia. During their visit, the officials expressed solidarity with Ukraine, aligning Armenia more closely with Western positions and contradicting Russia’s narrative of the conflict.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova criticized the visit as “an openly unfriendly step on the part of official Yerevan.” She added that the Kremlin had sent a protest note to Armenia, reflecting Moscow’s displeasure with Yerevan’s actions. Armenian officials dismissed the complaint, emphasizing their commitment to humanitarian principles and supporting communities affected by conflict.
This diplomatic clash underscores the shifting dynamics in Armenia’s foreign policy. Armenia long maintained close ties with Russia due to shared cultural, historical, economic, and military factors. However, recent developments suggest a recalibration of Armenia’s geopolitical orientation. Since the start of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Armenia has sided increasingly with the West’s stance on the war. This pivot includes meetings between Armenian and Ukrainian officials and the provision of humanitarian aid to Ukraine. An Armenian representative was expected to attend a Western summit in Switzerland on June 15-16 designed to rally support for Ukraine.
Moscow recently claimed that Armenia owes the CSTO $598,000 in unpaid fees incurred in 2024, a debt Armenian authorities deny, asserting they had “de facto” suspended their CSTO membership. Following Armenia’s criticism of the alliance, Moscow stated that Armenia was “free to leave“ the pact.
The souring of Armenian-Russian ties began in 2022, when Armenia’s calls for CSTO assistance to contain Azerbaijani attacks in Nagorno-Karabakh went unanswered. The lack of CSTO support fueled Armenian frustration and prompted the start of the strategic pivot toward the West.
