Pashinyan accused the CSTO of threatening the countryʼs sovereignty. Before that, an attempted coup (prepared in Russia) was exposed in Armenia

The Investigative Committee (IC) of Armenia reported on an attempted armed coup in the country, which was being prepared by several citizens of the country and people from Nagorno-Karabakh.

Employees of the National Security Service managed to establish the identities of seven people. Three people were arrested, the rest were declared wanted.

According to the Armenia IC, the defendants recruited several citizens of the republic and residents of Nagorno-Karabakh, promising to pay them 220 000 rubles ($2 400) each month.

Recruits were sent to Rostov-on-Don under the pretext of a three-month military training session for "familiarization with new types of heavy weapons, training in the skills of their use and combat duty" after returning to Armenia.

Recruits were also tested with the help of a polygraph to find out their personal characteristics, political views and connections with the law enforcement agencies of Armenia. After that, they were placed at the "Arbat military base", where they were trained to conduct combat operations in closed rooms.

The participants of the group were also informed that the purpose of the exercises is to remove the current government in Armenia.

The Armenia IC claims that some recruits refused to take part in the coup and returned to the republic. The rest were revealed by the security forces before they could complete the plan.

On the same day, Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan, commenting on the freezing of Armeniaʼs membership in the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) stated that CSTO poses threats to Armeniaʼs security.

"We have frozen our membership in CSTO not only because the organization does not fulfill its security obligations to Armenia, but also because, in our opinion, CSTO poses threats to Armeniaʼs security, future existence, sovereignty and statehood of Armenia," said he during the World Armenian Summit.

• Previously, Pashinyan repeatedly spoke about the fact that CSTO did not fulfill its obligations to Yerevan during the Nagorno-Karabakh war, as a result of which Azerbaijan regained its territories. Because of this, in June he even announced his intention to leave CSTO.
• In March 2024, it became known that Armenia is considering submitting an application for membership in the European Union. The country has pro-European aspirations, so it is important for it to expand the circle of partners and allies. Recently, Yerevan has been strengthening relations with Western countries, in particular with the United States.
• On July 22, 2024, the Council of the European Union for the first time in history approved military aid for the Armed Forces of Armenia in the amount of €10 million from the European Peace Fund (EPF).