ArmInfo. Armenia supported the joint statement prepared by Russia on the case of poisoning in Salisbury, to make sure that this problem will be solved within the framework of international law. Deputy Foreign Minister of Armenia Shavarsh Kocharyan stated this in a conversation with journalists.
At the same time, he stressed that Armenia does not defend the position of any party. "At this stage, it is necessary to refrain from any judgments, assessments and actions, while there is no answer to a number of questions," the deputy minister said. In particular, according to Kocharyan, it is necessary to find the answer to the question, where this chemical weapon was manufactured, that is, to clarify its origin, who carried out the crime and who ordered it. "We hope that, as soon as possible, answers will be given to these questions, after which it will be possible to draw conclusions and take action," he said. For today, as the representative of the Armenian Foreign Ministry noted, the laboratory that conducted the research stated that it cannot reveal the origin of this substance. With this in mind, Kocharyan believes that it is necessary to wait for the conclusions of the specialized structures. At the same time, Shavarsh Kocharyan does not believe that Armenia supports Russia with his position, or that it can lead to straining relations between the RA and the West. "We do not defend Russia, we are in favor of finalizing the incident, Armenia is deeply interested in this," he explained, stressing that until there is an answer to the above-mentioned questions, RA will refrain from assessments, statements and steps for the incident. It should be noted that earlier press secretary of the Armenian Foreign Ministry Tigran Balayan told ArmInfo that Armenia joined CSTO on the issue of supporting the joint statement of Russia, China and Iran on the case of poisoning in Salisbury. According to him, Armenia did not participate in the voting, however, it supported the CSTO statement on this issue. "We are not members of the Executive Council and did not participate in the voting, however, there was a statement of the CSTO, to which we joined," Balayan specified.
We remind that on the eve of the meeting in the Hague, at the initiative of Russia, a meeting of the Executive Council of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) was held. The meeting was held in closed session. The goal is to clarify the situation with the investigation into the poisoning in Salisbury. Russian experts put specific questions to the organization, in particular, how the samples of the poison were taken and in what laboratories they are studied. As the Russian Permanent Representative to the OPCW Alexander Shulgin said at a press conference, a draft joint statement from Russia, China and Iran was presented at the meeting, stressing the need to solve the "Skripal case" within the framework of international law. The CSTO allies, close partners in the CIS, Iran, China and a number of Latin American countries, supported the joint statement. However, the Initiative failed to gather the necessary two-thirds majority. Shulgin said that against are Britain and the United States, as well as the EU countries and "some American allies in Asia". The Russian Embassy in the Netherlands later published a list of countries that supported the initiative, the list included Belarus, Syria, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Venezuela, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Nicaragua and Cuba.