Wednesday, February 20 2019 13:28

ArmInfo.There is no need to expect from the US new statements or actions in connection with the presence of the Armenian military contingent in Syria. Director of Center for Regional Studies Richard Kirakosyan expressed such opinion  to ArmInfo.

"Analyzing the statement of the US Department of State, it can be  concluded that it is based on the personal opinion of presidential  adviser on national security John Bolton. And, accordingly,  practically does not contain diplomatic messages to Yerevan. Sending  the Armenian military to Syria gave rise to certain difficulties, but  not problems relations with the US. In any case, this is evidenced by  the rather strong support expressed recently by the US Congress to  the new government of Armenia, "the analyst is convinced.

A statement issued on February 13 by the US Embassy in Armenia states  that the US Department of State does not support either military or  humanitarian cooperation with the Syrian army. At the same time, the  State Department is sympathetic to the desire of other countries to  respond to the humanitarian situation in Syria and shares concerns  about the protection of religious minorities in the Middle East.

In this light, Kirakosyan regards Washington's rather aggressive  reaction to sending Armenian specialists to Syria as addressed,  rather, to Moscow and even Tehran but not to Yerevan. According to  his estimates, this statement once again expressed its own  intransigent position on Syria in general and Bashar al-Assad in  particular. Against this background, according to analyst estimates,  Moscow is committed to an even deeper and wider presence of the  Armenian military in Syria. However, for Yerevan, the already  existing humanitarian level is quite a weighty compromise. "In this  light, the Armenian military needs to be extremely careful in order  to avoid participation in any hostilities initiated by Moscow.  Accordingly, clear signals sent by Yerevan about the humanitarian  character of the Armenian mission in Syria are very important," the  analyst concluded. On February 14, Armenian Defense Minister Davit  Tonoyan told reporters that the humanitarian mission in Syria is  carried out in accordance with the law. "There are certain  geopolitical contradictions, but assistance to the Syrian people,  part of which is the Armenian community, is necessary. This topic  cannot be a reason for speculation," the Minister stressed.

A military contingent of 83 servicemen of the Armenian Armed Forces  arrived on a humanitarian mission in Aleppo on February 8. According  to the press secretary of the Ministry of Defense of Armenia Artsrun  Hovhannisyan, Armenian specialists will carry out humanitarian  activities related to demining, mine awareness of the population,  provision of medical assistance in Aleppo, exclusively outside the  zone of military operations.