U.S. Ambassador to Armenia refuses to comment on Armenian President's speech

The U.S. Embassies in all countries work with all political forces and Armenia is not an exception, newly appointed U.S. Ambassador to Armenia Richard Mills said at today's press conference in Yerevan when asked how the Embassy will cooperate with the opposition forces given the Armenian President's Feb 12 speech that labeled the oppositionists.     

The diplomat said that the U.S. Embassy will keep working with political forces, NGOs and activists.  

In the meantime, he refused to comment on the Armenian President's speech and said that he comes from Louisiana, where it is normal to call people by nicknames.  

Ambassador Mills also pointed out that if the President of Armenia stresses the need to conduct investigation, it should a thorough and detailed investigation.    

At the Feb 12 session of the Republican Party of Armenia Council, Serzh Sargsyan strongly criticized Tsarukyan for his "pseudo-political" activities and said that he is going to exclude Tsarukyan from the National Security Council. Sargsyan also touched on Tsarukyan's competence level and pointed out his failure to pay taxes.     

Following Serzh Sargsyan's Feb 12 criticism, Tsarukyan made a speech, saying that he "is persecuted" because he refuses to help the President to retain power by means of constitutional reforms. Tsarukyan pointed out that in his Feb 12 speech Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan hinted at the taxes that Tsarukyan failed to pay. "During his term in office, all the enterprises belonging to me and to my relatives repeatedly underwent audit", he said. "Meanwhile, the people perfectly know who is robbing the budget at the state level and who is engaged in kick-backs", he added.