MOSCOW, November 7. /TASS/. The United States is seeking to steer Armenia onto a pro-Western path using strategies tested in Ukraine and Moldova, Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) said in a statement obtained by TASS.
"Washington finds it important to increase its 'guiding influence' on the Armenian political elite to encourage Yerevan to take the pro-Western course of development as soon as possible, despite potential difficulties. The Americans are planning to follow methods they have used in Ukraine and Moldova for that," the SVR warned.
According to the SVR, 'pro-democracy' US agencies affiliated with the Department of State have been tasked with expanding the training of key Armenian government officials and injecting foreign advisors "to guide the Armenian government toward embracing Western interests."
The goal is to make Armenia’s social and political processes as anti-Russian as possible, the service argued. "Washington intends to run a long-term information and propaganda campaign which involves, among other things, discrediting prospects for cooperation between Yerevan and Russia, the EAEU (Eurasian Economic Union - TASS), and the CSTO (Collective Security Treaty Organization - TASS), and spreading news alleging ‘mistreatment’ of Armenian citizens who came to work in our country," the SVR noted.
"For the sake of the ‘lofty goal’ of joining the so-called civilized community led by the US, Washington believes that the Armenian people must pay the price of rejecting their own traditions, national values, and stable trade and economic ties with their closest partners in the EAEU, which serve Armenia’s interests and have ensured the dynamic growth of its economy over the past few years," the SVR continued. "Thus, Washington has been steadfastly pushing Armenia toward a ‘national suicide,’" it concluded.