Pashinyan: Armenia and Russia cannot act against each other

ArmInfo.Moscow and Yerevan cannot act against each other because they are strategic allies. This was stated by the Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan.  "This  cannot be - so that we would like to harm Russia. At least, this is  our idea of strategic alliance ...

We can't act anywhere and never against each other," Pashinyan said, commenting on the request of the Rossiyskaya Gazeta a number of media reports that work on the order  of the Pentagon may be carried out in Armenian biological  laboratories built with US funds. The Prime Minister also noted that  these laboratories were created with the help of the United States,  but today they are exclusively the property of the Republic of  Armenia. "No one from the outside without the sanction of the  representatives of the authorities of our country can penetrate the  territory of these facilities," Pashinyan added.  Earlier it became  known that Russia and Armenia postponed the signing of a memorandum  on the admission of Russian specialists to these laboratories. The  document was to be signed during a recent visit by Russian Foreign  Minister Sergei Lavrov to Yerevan, but this did not happen for vague  reasons. "We had a draft agreement with Russia, we were ready to sign  it, but our Russian colleagues decided to finalize it.  We'll work on  this, and when both sides agree, we will sign it," Pashinyan  explained. Recall that in an interview with Civilnet, US Ambassador  to Armenia Lynn Tracy stated that the USA is proud of the level of  relations with Armenia in the field of safety of biological  laboratories that has existed since 2008. At the same time, the  diplomat noted that these biological laboratories are Armenian, and  are managed by Armenian specialists and are managed by the Armenian  authorities. "We have worked very transparently in the issue of  cooperation in this area. Armenia, as a sovereign state, sovereign  government, can itself manage any activity related to these  bio-laboratories," the diplomat concluded. It should be noted that  Moscow and Yerevan began work on the corresponding document last  summer. It has now been completed and is awaiting coordination at the  interdepartmental level in the two countries, as announced by the  Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Russia on November 11 in Yerevan.   Recall that in 2016, with the funding of the US Department of  Defense, three laboratories were opened in Armenia - in Yerevan,  Gyumri and Ijevan. After their opening in the Armenian and Russian  media, publications periodically receive widespread publicity that  these laboratories are dual-use facilities and can be used for  military purposes to create and produce biological weapons. The US  Department of Defense allocated $ 15.5 million for the creation of a  reference laboratory in Yerevan, and the total funding amounted to $  18 million. In Yerevan, $ 4.1 million was invested to fully build the  reference laboratory of the food safety department for especially  dangerous pathogens of the RA Ministry of Agriculture, and The US  Government invested $ 9.8 million to repair the reference laboratory  of the National Center for Disease Control and Prevention of the  Ministry of Health of Armenia, ensuring the seismic stability of the  building and creating the necessary laboratory infrastructure  structure. An additional $ 1.7 million for both laboratories was  allocated for the purchase of new equipment and furniture.