ArmInfo. The US Department of State explained what they are doing in American laboratories in the territories of Armenia, Georgia, Ukraine and Azerbaijan.
Thus, George Kent, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs at a video conference held jointly with the Marshall Fund, touched upon the activities of American bio-laboratories in foreign countries, and assured that the fight against misinformation and negative influence has become a common problem.
"One of the most important US investments in the Eastern Partnership countries 15 years ago was the diagnostic laboratories known as the Lugar Laboratories, which are now attacked by the Russian propaganda. This laboratory infrastructure is testing and combating COVID in Georgia, Armenia, Ukraine and Azerbaijan. This infrastructure was created more than ten years ago at the expense of the US funds. Laboratory personnel were also trained by the Americans so that countries could act in the current situation, although we are looking for ways to international cooperation, Russia continues to misinform against the laboratories of Lugar, claiming that we have created this disease and do not fight it. The sad thing is that the Chinese have caught this misinformation of Russia, "Kent said.
It should be noted that the reason for Washington's reaction was a statement made earlier by the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry. In particular, she said that Moscow is aware of the US proposals to Georgia to expand research for military purposes in the Lugar bio-laboratory near Tbilisi, an infrastructure with dangerous biological potential is being formed near the borders of the Russian Federation.
It should also be noted that Moscow and Yerevan announced the start of work on a document on the access of Russian specialists to American biological laboratories in the RA back in 2018. Moreover, on November 11, 2019, in Yerevan, the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Russia at a joint press conference announced the completion of work in this direction, and pending approval of the document at the interagency level in the two countries. However, after that, all talk on this issue subsided.
To recall 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, publications periodically receive widespread publicity in the Armenian and Russian media 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, for the full construction of the reference laboratory of the food safety department for especially dangerous pathogens of the Ministry of Agriculture, $ 4.1 million was invested, and the US government invested $ 9.8 million for the repair of 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. An additional $ 1.7 million for both laboratories was allocated for the purchase of new equipment and furniture.