Caliber.Az investigation raises dissatisfaction of US State Department Facts are stubborn things

On April 17, Caliber.Az published the previously announced piece "20 points: what did Armenia, EU and US agree on in Brussels?". Our investigation caused a wide resonance both in Azerbaijani society and in the international arena, attracting the attention of both local and foreign media.

We have analysed in detail the 20 points of US-EU military assistance to Yerevan agreed during the US-EU-Armenia trilateral meeting in Brussels. We have analysed in detail numerous aspects, from the development of Armenia's military doctrine and border control to military supplies and cyber security.

Today, April 18 the US State Department commented on our investigation, calling it "disinformation”: "This document is pure disinformation, security issues were not on the agenda. We would like to draw your attention to the press release that was adopted jointly with the European Union and Armenia on the results of the trilateral meeting held on April 5 in Brussels. The Brussels meeting, held jointly with the European Union and Armenia, focused only on Armenia's economic sustainability as it seeks to diversify its trade partnership and address its humanitarian needs, including support for Armenia's ongoing reforms in areas such as democracy and the rule of law," the State Department said in a statement.

Well, such a reaction was quite expected. However, the editors of Caliber.Az insist on the authenticity of the document that we distributed, based on reliable sources. The State Department's position is predictable: blaming the spread of disinformation is a well-tested method used around the world to refute inconvenient facts.

It is also worth revealing an interesting nuance that is well known to us, but not mentioned in our yesterday’s material. Discussed military aid items were actively considered between the United States and Armenia even before the April 5 meeting. Thus, the representative delegation of Armenia, while on a visit to the United States, discussed specific points of military assistance both at meetings in the Pentagon and in other American structures. Scrupulous discussions continued until the summit in Brussels on April 5, but due to Azerbaijan’s serious concerns, it was decided not to advertise this military component at the Brussels meeting.

In conclusion, we note that the US State Department may have been unpleasantly surprised by the leak of a document on secret negotiations to our editorial board, which caused their sharp reaction. However, our document confirms that the US and the EU intend to reformat Armenia's armed forces to influence regional players, primarily Azerbaijan. And, by the way, the day before it became known that the EU plans to allocate 10 million euros to Armenia, which must be spent within 30 months. According to Radio Liberty, this amount will be allocated from the European Peace Facility for the creation of... no, not a hospital in some remote Armenian village, but for a modular field camp designed for one battalion. But Europeans and Americans are trying to convince us that in Brussels it was only about economics and democracy. And this is the West’s first step to strengthen military-technical cooperation with Armenia within the framework of the Brussels agreements.

Be that as it may, Azerbaijan is aware of all steps against it and will react according to its national interests.