Monday, August 29 2022 19:49

ArmInfo.The partnership between Armenia and the United States in reducing the biological threat pursues exclusively peaceful purposes, and has nothing to do  with biological weapons. This is stated in the message of the RA  Security Council.

Thus as the press service of the RA Security Council Office reports:

"The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the importance of strong  national capacities for infectious disease surveillance, diagnosis,  and response. International cooperation and assistance play a  critical role in building these capacities. Our governments have  partnered openly and transparently through the Biological Threat  Reduction Program, which is a part of the U.S. Department of Defense  Cooperative Threat Reduction Program. These partnerships are devoted  exclusively to peaceful purposes; they have nothing to do with  weapons. These partnerships protect the health of humans and animals  in our countries, including in the prevention, detection, and control  of infectious disease outbreaks, and in enhancing laboratory  biosafety and biosecurity. As partners in this program, we each have  firsthand knowledge of its relevance to our shared goal of  cooperating to strengthen global health security and reduce the  impacts of infectious diseases on our societies. Our governments  strongly affirm the common view that such cooperation should not be  undermined, but rather promoted and reinforced. Pursuant to Article  X, we encourage all Biological Weapons Convention States Parties to  work together, including at the forthcoming Review Conference, in  support of this goal," noted in the message of the RA Security  Council.

Earlier, in 2016, with the funding of the US Department of Defense,   three laboratories were opened in Armenia:  in Yerevan, in Gyumri and   in Ijevan. According to experts, currently, their number has reached  12. There are regular reports in the Armenian and Russian media that   these laboratories are dual-use facilities, can be used for military  purposes, to make and produce biological weapons.  The US DoD   allocated $15.5 million for the establishment of a reference   laboratory in Yerevan, with a total funding of $18 million. In   Yerevan, $4.1 million was invested for the complete construction of   the reference laboratory of the Department of Food Safety for Highly   Dangerous Pathogens of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of   Armenia, and $9.8 million was invested by the US government 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. An additional $1.7 million was allocated   for both laboratories to purchase new equipment and furniture.  It is  noteworthy that Moscow and Yerevan announced the start of work  on a  document on the admission of Russian specialists to American   biological laboratories in the Republic of Armenia back in 2018.    Moreover, the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Russia at a joint   press conference on November 11, 2019 in Yerevan, announced the  completion of work in this direction, and the expectation of the   agreement of the document at the interdepartmental level in the two   countries. However, after that, all talk on this issue subsided.  The  United States spends huge amounts of money to maintain laboratories.  For example, they spent 200 million dollars in Ukraine (the number of  biological laboratories in Ukraine is more than 30 units), in Georgia  - more than 150 million dollars, and in Kazakhstan - more than 130  million dollars. In Armenia, more than $25 million has been invested  in these laboratories. They operate in Yerevan, Gyumri, Vanadzor,  Ijevan and other regions of the republic. The budget of the  Biological Participation Program is $2.1 billion and is funded by the  US Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA)