ArmInfo.Of particular concern to the Pentagon is the formation of laboratories in the CIS countries where they can create biological weapons, said Secretary of the Russian Security Council Nikolai Patrushev.
"Of particular concern is the Pentagon's efforts to create biological laboratories in the CIS countries, which are conducting research on infectious diseases and can create biological weapons," writes Patrushev in his article "Russia's Security in the Modern World" in the "Russian to the newspaper. "
"In this regard, there is an increasing need for close coordination with our partners, including through the conclusion of bilateral agreements on ensuring biosafety," Patrushev added, RIA Novosti reports. It should be noted that Moscow and Yerevan began work on the development of a Memorandum on the admission of Russian specialists to a biological laboratory in Armenia last summer. Now it is finished. According to the heads of the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Russia the day before in Yerevan, the document is being approved by the relevant departments of the two countries.
Recall that in 2016, with the funding of the US Department of Defense, three laboratories were opened in Armenia - in Yerevan, Gyumri and Ijevan. After their discovery in the Armenian and Russian media, publications periodically receive widespread publicity that these laboratories are dual-use facilities and can be used for military purposes to create and manufacture biological weapons. The US Department of Defense allocated $ 15.5 million for the creation of a reference laboratory in Yerevan, and the total funding amounted to $ 18 million.
In Yerevan, for the full construction of the reference laboratory of the food safety department for especially dangerous pathogens of the Ministry of Agriculture, $ 4.1 million was invested, and the US government invested $ 9.8 million for the repair of the reference laboratory of the "National Center for Disease Control and Prevention" of the Ministry of Health of Armenia, ensuring the seismic stability of the building and creating the necessary laboratory infrastructure. An additional $ 1.7 million for both laboratories was allocated for the purchase of new equipment and furniture.