Armenia’s leader snubs meeting of Russia-dominated security grouping over a rift with the Kremlin

MOSCOW (AP) — A Russia-dominated security grouping has held a summit in Belarus with the absence of one of its members, Armenia, which has been irked by what it sees as a lack of support over the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Speaking during Thursday’s meeting of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, Russian President Vladimir Putin hailed what he called the group’s role in securing peace and stability in the region. But in a sign of a widening rift between Russia and Armenia, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan snubbed the summit in the Belarusian capital of Minsk, citing his government’s dissatisfaction with the organization. At the same time, Pashinyan and his officials have emphasized that Armenia doesn’t plan to opt out of the grouping altogether.