Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has described Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s statement today ruling out a planned CSTO military exercise in Armenia this year as “something new”, implying that it was not expected.

Earlier today, in a Yerevan press conference, Pashinyan said such a scheduled CSTO joint military exercises in Armenia in 2023 would be “inappropriate” given the continued closure of the Lachin Corridor.

Pashinyan has also criticized CSTO for failing to respond to Azerbaijani military incursions into sovereign Armenian territory.

"In any case, Armenia is our very close ally. We will continue the dialogue, including those issues that are now very difficult," Peskov said.

Relations between Yerevan and Moscow have been strained of late following the Pashinyan administration’s critique of the inaction of Russian peacekeepers stationed in Karabakh to reopen the Lachin Corridor.