US embassy cable - 04YEREVAN891

S E C R E T YEREVAN 000891 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/CACEN 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/15/2014 
TAGS: PARM, PREL, KCFE, AM 
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR RAISES CFE COMPLIANCE CONCERNS 
 
REF: STATE 79196 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Ordway for reasons 1.5 (b) and (D) 
 
1. (S) Ambassador presented points per reftel to Minister of 
Defense Serge Sargsyan April 12.  Sargsyan first responded by 
agreeing that "it was strange" that Armenia had not declared 
the MT-LBs, and it was an incident that would not be 
repeated.  (Note:  The Armenian side freely acknowledge that 
there are MT-LBs in their inventory, and the Minister seemed 
taken aback by the fact they had not been declared.  End 
Note.)  Sargsyan briefly became combative when he deduced 
that the source of the information about pre-inspection 
inventory was not the CFE inspection team, and denied that 
any equipment had been moved.  He volunteered that the 
weapons system in question was not MT-LBs but Chinese-made 
weapons in the Armenian arsenal; and that any pre-inspection 
movements had legitimate reasons--a point the Ambassador 
rebutted.  Sargsyan finally conceded that perhaps some 
weapons had been moved by a "strange or sick person," and 
that he would look in to the matter to ensure that it did not 
happen again. 
 
2. (S) Ambassador also raised reftel points with Foreign 
Minister Oskanian April 14.  He could provide no further 
elucidation of the issue at this time, but clearly understood 
the serious situation that the country would face if the 
Secretary were unable to make the CTR certification for 
 
SIPDIS 
Armenia. 
ORDWAY