BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 3. Claims that Russia and the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) did not help Armenia during the escalation in the region are false; Armenia made decisions on Karabakh under the influence of NATO, Spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova said on the air of the Zvezda TV channel, TurkicWorld reports.

"I condemn all who propagate the false notion of holding Russia and the CSTO accountable for Armenia's decisions on Karabakh; these decisions were made by Armenia after consultations with the West," she emphasized.

According to her, the recent escalation between Armenia and Azerbaijan is determined by Armenia's willingness to allow the EU, the US, and the UK to exercise a negative impact on the situation in the area and the country.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan earlier claimed in an interview with the Greek Kathimerini newspaper that his country has effectively discontinued its membership in the CSTO.

"In our evaluation, the Collective Security Treaty Organization has failed to meet its security commitments to the Republic of Armenia, particularly between 2021 and 2022. As a practical consequence of this CSTO policy, we have effectively suspended our participation in the organization," he said.

Pashinyan mentioned that, as of September 2023, Armenia has no permanent representative in the CSTO.

"We do not participate in CSTO negotiations at the highest level. We neither obstruct nor partake in CSTO decisions," he added.

The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) is an intergovernmental military alliance in Eurasia made up of six post-Soviet states: Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan. It was created in 2002.