US government demands that Armenia withdraw military group from Syria, Armenian defense minister categorically against withdrawal
And here we have it…According to 168.am, the US government recently demanded that Armenia withdraw its military group from Syria. A few days ago, the press issued an article stating that the Ministers of Defense and Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia recently held a closed discussion with some ambassadors. Of course, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs refuted the meeting of the ministers, but according to the mass media, the topic of the meeting was the sending of a military group to Syria — something that was negatively perceived by the US government. Interestingly, this “message” was conveyed to the Armenian government right after Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Nikolai Patrushev paid a visit to Armenia on August 12-13, 2019. Rumor has it that Patrushev had recommended increasing the personnel of the military group.
According to 168.am’s sources, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Armenia to the United Nations Mher Margaryan told the Armenian authorities about the US government’s discontent and emphasized that the presence of an Armenian military group in Syria is having a negative impact on US-Armenia relations. According to the same sources, relevant US institutions also stated that failure to withdraw the military group will lead to consequences in US-Armenia relations and that Armenia must not use the equipment provided by the US government for demining in Syria. Minister of Defense Davit Tonoyan and Minister of Foreign Affairs Zohrab Mnatsakanyan considered the report of the diplomatic envoy. Mnatsakanyan said he was concerned about Armenia’s response to the US and recalled the speech that Nikol Pashinyan had given on August 17 of last year, announcing about an Armenian-Russian humanitarian project that will be unprecedented in the history of the newly independent Armenia.
During their discussion with the diplomat, both ministers tried to understand how Armenia can get out of this situation. Armenia may face problems with Russia and the United States. According to the same sources, Minister of Defense Davit Tonoyan was categorically against the demand to withdraw the military group. The decision of Nikol Pashinyan and his response to the demand of the Russians and Americans remains unclear.
Both the political opposition and experts had warned the government that Armenia would face foreign policy challenges after sending a military group to Syria under the flag of the Republic of Armenia. The former authorities were more flexible and were able to avoid such problems, maintaining the geopolitical balance. Pashinyan is compressing the circle around him on his own since he fails to observe all the warnings. The consequences are grave when a government takes uncalculated steps in order to maintain power, and those consequences are first and foremost grave for the country. By the way, let us not forget that the “boiler” of Amulsar (exploitation of the Amulsar gold mine) is “seething”.
Hours after this article was released, Minister of Defense of the Republic of Armenia Davit Tonoyan, in response to journalists, said the following: “The US government hasn’t demanded that Armenia withdraw its military group from Syria”, and Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Anna Naghdalyan said the following in regard to a discussion of Armenia’s government agencies under the title “US government demands that Armenia withdraw military group from Syria”:
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has refuted the information several times already. Currently, an attempt is being made to circulate the information already refuted by a state institution with new details that are fictional and don’t correspond to reality, and by doing this, they create fake news composed of several layers. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs does not accept the nonsensical speculation of issues related to the security of the Armenian community of Syria and the assistance that is provided to the community for narrow and personal interests. I would like to go off topic and simply add that the government agencies operating in the security sector and their leaders always hold consultations over various issues, and the heads of those government agencies have made statements on that several times.”
