Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan will skip a June 21 meeting of CSTO foreign ministers to be held in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

The ministry announced that Mirzoyan will travel to Vilnius to meet with Lithuanian government officials.

In February 2024, Armenia announced the suspension of its membership in the CSTO, and subsequently refused to pay its membership fee.

In related news, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin told RIA Novosti that Moscow expects that Armenia will realize the potential for cooperation on regional security issues that the Russian-led military alliance offers.

"We expect that our Armenian partners <...> will understand that the most effective method of ensuring regional security is cooperation between regional states," Galuzin is quoted as saying. 

Photo: Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan/MFA