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A group of political parties and NGOs staged a protest in Yerevan’s central Liberty Square on Wednesday, calling for Armenia’s withdrawal from the Moscow-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) amid its meeting in Yerevan.

A joint meeting of the Foreign Ministers Council, the Defense Ministers Council and the Committee of Security Council Secretaries of the defense bloc kicked off in the Armenian capital on Wednesday morning.

Later today, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan will chair a session of the CSTO Collective Security Council in attendance of all leaders of the CSTO member states.

The protesters voiced support for the EU monitoring mission deployed along Armenia's border with Azerbaijan. They held flags of Ukraine and anti-CSTO posters.

Sociologist Karen Sargsyan stressed the need for Armenia’s withdrawal from the security bloc to pave the way for “dignity and peace” for Armenians in the coming years.

Political activist Vardges Gaspari held a poster with an image of Russian President Vladimir Putin, urging the Armenian authorities to declare him “persona non grata” in the country.