Sergey Mikheyev: American ultimatum for Armenia

Head of National Assembly of Armenia Galust Sahakyan has announced today that Armenian authorities qualify unacceptable the behavior of Richard Mills, U.S. Ambassador to Armenia.

«No ambassador has the right to speak the language of ultimatums. His peremptory statements are not only unpleasant to us, but also not acceptable for us. The statements by Ambassador should be correct,»- said the speaker. The U.S. attitude toward the Armenian authorities has remained the same, constantly pulling them from Russia. There are no significant changes in the U.S. approaches to Armenia, — says Sergey Mikheyev, head of the Institute of Caspian Cooperation.

«The U.S. discontent with the Armenian-Russian relations and the country’s accession to the EEU strengthens the criticism in regards to the Armenian authorities. In addition, the United States know that the country has fertile ground for dissent, and it should be encouraged»- Sergey Mikheyev told RUSARMINFO. According to the expert, it is difficult to predict how the debate will end between the first persons of Armenian and U.S. Ambassador, but the fact that the Americans are actively working with the Armenian opposition and, if necessary, they will take advantage of it — is obvious.

«If the United States fails to persuade the Armenian authorities by good means, they will largely stimulate the opposition to drastic actions. But whether they will succeed or not, depends on the citizens of Armenia», — concluded Sergey Mikheyev.

Note: The statement of the Armenian parliament speaker was a response to the U.S. Ambassador’s early announcement on the corruption matters in Armenia, which “prevent not only the overall development of the country, but also pose threats to the national security, as through the corruption schemes the outside forces might gain access to governance”. The Ambassador also warned that if the Anti-Corruption Council, chaired by Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan, recorded no tangible results, the U.S. would no longer allocate money for the fight against corruption.