YEREVAN/NOV. 11 (The Bulletin) — Armenia will soon allow Russia to inspect three US-linked biochemical laboratories near Yerevan, part of a network across the former Soviet Union that the Kremlin has said is being used to develop weapons.

Granting Russia access to the US-sponsored sites is an indication of just how close relations have become between the Kremlin and Yerevan since Nikol Pashinyan took over as Armenian PM after a revolution last year. He has sent Armenian deminers and doctors to support Russia’s operations in Syria and also made deals with Iran, all to the irritation of Washington.

At a joint press conference with Armenian foreign minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan in Yerevan, Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said that a deal to visit the biochemical laboratories would be finalised “soon”.

“We see very close contacts between our countries’ economic departments; intergovernmental commissions are getting ready for work in Yerevan in the first half of next year. Yerevan will also host a Russian-Armenian inter-regional forum,” Mr Lavrov said.

The US government has always denied that the laboratories are developing weapons and has said it would be happy for the Russians to tour them. Instead, it has said that the labs are developing “disease response and reporting capabilities” and that, although part-funded by the US, they are under the full control of the Armenian government.

The biochemical laboratories have been a source of frustration for the Kremlin, alleging that the US is using them to develop biological weapons. Last year Mr Lavrov directly accused the Lugar laboratories in Tbilisi of being a front for a US weapons plant, a row that angered the US and damaged Georgia-Russia relations.

The warm relations between Russia and Armenia have taken analysts by surprise. Most had expected the Kremlin to disapprove of a revolution in Armenian in April and May 2018 that ushered Mr Pashinyan into power, previously an apparently pro-Western fringe politician. He, though, has proved keen to keep the Kremlin onside.
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— This story was first published in issue 430 of the weekly Bulletin.

YEREVAN/March 7 (The Bulletin) — Armenia suffered its first casualty of is engagement in Syria when a landmine exploded and seriously injured a deminer’s leg. The deminer had to have his foot amputated.

The detachment of 83 personnel — deminers and medics — are supporting Russian reconstruction efforts in Aleppo, once home to an ethnic Armenian diaspora estimated at around 100,000 people.

The US has warned Armenia not to support Russian military efforts in the region but Armenia’s new PM, Nikol Pashinyan has been keen to win favour with Russian President Vladimir Putin since he came to power in May last year through a revolution.

Wary of upsetting the US, Armenia is the only former Soviet country supporting Russia’s reconstruction efforts.

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— This story was first published in issue 403 of the weekly Bulletin