Armenia again skips CSTO summit

Armenia is not participating in the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) summit being held in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.

All leaders of CSTO member states, except Armenia, are in attendance.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Kyrgyzstan’s President Sadyr Japarov, and Tajikistan’s President Emomali Rahmon are participating in the summit, according to Russia’s TASS news agency.

Russia will assume the military bloc’s rotating chairmanship for 2026 from Kyrgyzstan.

Kyrgyzstan’s Taalatbek Masadykov, the CSTO’s Deputy Secretary General, was earlier appointed as Secretary General, succeeding Imangali Tasmagambetov of Kazakhstan, effective January 1, 2026.

Armenia officially remains a member state of the CSTO but has frozen its participation in the bloc, citing its failure to respond during the Azeri attacks of 2021 and 2022.