Russia concerned over US biological laboratories' work in Armenia

The Russian embassy in Yerevan has expressed concern about the work of American biological laboratories in Armenia.

The embassy said this in a statement commenting on Russian-Armenian biological security cooperation, Caliber.Az reports, citing the Armenian media.

"At the meeting of the leaders of the CSTO [Collective Security Treaty Organization] member states held in Moscow on May 16 this year, Russian President Vladimir Putin paid special attention to the problems of ensuring biological security in the former Soviet Union.

Information about the US military biological program in Ukraine has caused a wide response. In connection with the media questions coming to the embassy regarding cooperation between Russia and Armenia in the field of biological security, we would like to note the following.

The Russian Federation continues productive mutually beneficial cooperation with Armenia in the field of biological safety. Its activation was facilitated by the signing in May 2021 of a bilateral Intergovernmental Memorandum of Understanding on biological safety.

A number of successful projects in the field of combating infectious diseases are being implemented, as a result of which effective monitoring of the sanitary and epidemiological situation, information exchange, important scientific research, technical and methodological support in improving the laboratory network of Armenia and training of specialized specialists are provided. Thanks to bilateral cooperation in the fight against HIV, Armenia has become one of the first countries to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV. Joint work with the use of mobile laboratories transferred by Russia made it possible to prevent the plague and other dangerous infections from emerging from natural foci on the Armenian territory.

At the same time, in the context of the implementation of the memorandum on biosafety, we still have questions in connection with the incoming information about Armenia's cooperation with the United States and its allies in the biological sphere, including through the military departments. The US Defence Department is targeting the R. Lugar Center in Georgia, funded by him, to intensify joint scientific research in the field of microbiology and epidemiology with Armenia and other countries in the region. The activities of private Western companies carrying out biological research in the Transcaucasia region in the interests of the Pentagon, and the presence in Armenia of structures involved in biological projects in Ukraine also deserve a thorough analysis. The United States and its allies do not explain what they are doing in Armenia in the immediate vicinity of the Russian borders. This factor, of course, is taken into account by us in the context of ensuring Russia's biological safety," the embassy said in its statement.