Political scientist: Statement of US embassy in Armenia is blackmail

Any independent state is competent to decide with whom to cooperate and at what level, political scientist Hrant Melik-Shahnazaryan told journalists today when speaking about the warning that the U.S. embassy in Armenia addressed to Armenia’s businessmen and government.

“It is blackmail and is beyond the scope of the diplomatic mission,” Melik-Shahnazaryan said, adding that the Armenian side should deliver a note of protest. The political scientist reminded those present that no country can give Armenia such assistance that Russia provides from a security viewpoint.

It should be noted that the U.S. embassy in Armenia informed the Armenian government and domestic business organizations about risks related to cooperation with the Russian companies and natural persons included in the Unites States’ list of sanctions over the Ukrainian crisis.

In response to an inquiry of Regnum news agency, the U.S. embassy said that it urges all states and their residents to consider the risk related to their good reputation that may arise during cooperation with those Russian companies and natural persons and also to suspend all transactions that contradict the sanctions imposed by the U.S. and others. Like U.S. embassies in other states, the U.S. embassy in Yerevan conveyed the information about the latest sanctions to Armenian government representatives and companies, the embassy said in a statement.