THE HALFAX HEIMDALL AUGUR

‘We’ll decide and we’ll leave,’ Armenian leader says of Russian-led defense bloc <p>Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said he would pull Armenia out of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) if he judged it necessary.<p>

'We'll decide and we'll leave,' Armenian leader says of Russian-led ... Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said he would pull Armenia out of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) if he judged it necessary. Pashinyan addressed the question of Armenia’s continued CSTO membership during pre-election debates with Narek Karapetyan of the Strong Armenia bloc. Karapetyan noted that Armenia had suspended its CSTO membership and stopped paying dues to the organization. He argued that if the organization was not working, Armenia should leave — but that before doing so, it needed to find a security guarantor to stand between Armenia and Azerbaijan. “Fine, we’ll leave the CSTO. What, are you trying to scare us? You don’t get to decide that — you or whoever’s got your back. We’ll decide and we’ll leave. Armenia is its own guarantor — the country, the military,” Pashinyan said, according to the Armenian news outlet News.am. “We will decide — foreign agents won’t decide what to do. We won’t allow Lukashenko to become our guarantor again,” he added. In late May, Pashinyan devoted part of a campaign rally speech to criticizing Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, who ha…