MOSCOW 

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan threatened on Wednesday to launch the process of formally freezing cooperation with Russia-led military bloc Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO).

Speaking at the Armenian parliament in the capital Yerevan, Pashinyan said that in practice Yerevan has already suspended participation in the organization.

"The freezing of relations with the CSTO means that Armenia does not have a permanent representative to the CSTO and does not participate in high-level and top-level events," he said.

Pashinyan accused the CSTO members of not fulfilling their obligation under the treaty, referring to the organization's non-interference in the conflict in Karabakh.

In 2021, Armenia asked the CSTO to prevent Azerbaijan from liberating its internationally recognized territory of Karabakh. However, Yerevan received a refusal because according to the CSTO charter, the member states come to defend each other in case of aggression, and in case of Karabakh, there was no aggression against Armenia.

Pashinyan insisted that the bloc had to "demonstrate the relevant position regarding Armenia's security."

"If we have de facto (in practice) frozen our activities now, then if the issues are not resolved, we will do it de jure (formally)," Pashinyan said.

Commenting on Pashinyan's accusations of the CSTO, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said: "We categorically reject the reproaches of the Armenian authorities."

Zakharova stressed that at the request of the Armenian side, the CSTO was ready to send a monitoring mission, however, Yerevan preferred services of the EU observers.

Armenia's split with the CSTO started when Azerbaijan liberated most of the Karabakh region and its internationally recognized territory during a 44-day war in the fall of 2020.

Last September, the Azerbaijani army initiated an anti-terrorism operation in Karabakh and liberated the rest of its territories, ending 30 years of Armenian occupation.