CSTO: Minsk wants to shut “pseudo-ally” Armenia out of classified documents
- Published
- Place
- Minsk, Belarus
- Event date
- Past event —
Summary
After the sanction comes the sidelining. The day after the Moscow summit that stripped Armenia of its voting rights in the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), Belarusian Foreign Minister Maxim Ryzhenkov went further. On the Belarus 1 channel, he said he was “sure” that Yerevan’s access to the alliance’s classified documents would be limited. He called Armenia a “pseudo-ally”. In his view, such information could be used against the countries that want to strengthen the organisation. The minister accused Armenia’s leaders, not its people, of taking from the CSTO and the Eurasian Economic Union only what suits them: gas, oil and the transit of goods. His remarks were carried by the Russian agencies RIA Novosti and TASS. Yerevan had not reacted by Thursday noon.
The 11 November summit in the Kremlin applied Article 25 of the CSTO Charter to Armenia, over dues unpaid for more than two years. Yerevan can no longer vote or place its nationals in the organisation’s posts. Expulsion, however, was not discussed, Secretary General Taalatbek Masadykov said. Armenia froze its participation in 2024 and has not paid its contribution since.
“I pick what interests me”
Maxim Ryzhenkov first described what has already changed. “For a time, the sending of some quota staff and participation in some of the organisation’s decisions have been suspended,” he said, as quoted by TASS. Then he announced the next step: “I am sure that access to some documents that are entirely classified will be limited.”
“Why give such a pseudo-ally full access to that documentation today?” he asked. The minister said he was speaking of “hypothetical” matters. To him, Armenia practises “passive participation”. He summed it up this way: “I pick from you what interests me, gas and oil prices, transporting my goods to the end consumer; the rest does not concern us.” He added: “Such an attitude could not go unnoticed.”
Belarus’s top diplomat was careful to distinguish Armenians from their leaders. It was not the people, he said, but “the country’s leadership” that had changed its attitude towards the integration structures.
Minsk, the coldest partner
Relations between Yerevan and Minsk have been frosty for several years. In June 2024, Nikol Pashinyan said he would not visit Belarus as long as Alexander Lukashenko was in power, and Armenia recalled its ambassador. Yerevan accuses Minsk of supporting Azerbaijan.
The tensions also affect trade. On 31 October, Belarus banned the sale of the Armenian 7-year-old “Arame” brandy, judged not to meet Eurasian standards.
Analysis
The statement has no legal force: only a CSTO body can restrict access to documents. But it shows the direction of travel. Moscow chose a measured sanction, without expulsion. Minsk plays the hardest partner, the one who says out loud what others think. For Yerevan, which no longer wants the alliance, losing access to documents it hardly consults matters little. The jibe about gas and oil is more sensitive: it recalls how much Armenia still depends on Russia for its energy.
Possible consequences
Any restriction would have to be decided by CSTO bodies. Yerevan had not responded officially by midday on Thursday.
