Zakharova: Russia willing to discuss sending a team to Armenia to  combat disinformation

ArmInfo.Russia is ready to discuss sending a team to Armenia to combat disinformation, as stated by Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova during a weekly briefing on March 4.

When asked about Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan's appeal  to Brussels "to send a rapid response team to Yerevan to counter  Kremlin disinformation and Russian interference in the parliamentary  elections in Armenia," Zakharova noted that the report of receiving a  letter from Mirzoyan was disseminated by a resource "known for its  ties to the intelligence services." She did not rule out the  possibility that the letter was obtained through hacking. "Sending a  special EU rapid response team to the country, as you noted, is a  clear projection of the Moldovan scenario onto Armenia," Zakharova  noted, recalling that the Armenian Radio Liberty, which disseminated  this information, also noted that the EU had sent a similar team to  Moldova last year.

"And we actually saw them  in action in defense of democracy.  Inconvenient information resources and content were simply blocked by  these very same specialists. Moreover, this was done without  providing any legal justification. Democracy suffered in ways you  can't even imagine, but no one even paid attention," Zakharova  mentioned, adding that the information field was literally cleared of  everything related to Russia.

Additionally, she noted that the experience of other countries  demonstrates that the active and deep involvement of European Union  experts in the pre-election period, as well as in the context of a  possible constitutional referendum, is unlikely to strengthen  Armenia's genuine sovereignty. According to her, the opposite is more  likely true. "We have, of course, noted the Armenian Ministry of  Justice's comment, which states that the work of the invited  specialists will not be directed against Russia. Taking this into  account, in incase of a corresponding invitation from the Armenian  side, we confirm our readiness to promptly consider sending a  similarly tasked group to the country on a bilateral basis," she  noted.

Zakharova added that the CIS also has the necessary tools, and  Yerevan can always turn to the Commonwealth for assistance. "I'm  confident they won't refuse," she concluded.

Recall, earlier, Radio Liberty  reported that they had a letter from  Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan to Brussels, in which he  "requested the dispatch of a rapid response team to Yerevan to  counter Kremlin disinformation and Russian interference in the  parliamentary elections in Armenia." In this regard, it was recalled  that the EU sent a similar team of approximately 20 people to  Chisinau during last year's parliamentary elections "to help Moldovan  authorities identify and counter disinformation emanating from Russia  on social media." It should be added that the EU's top diplomat, Kaja  Kallas, had announced the allocation of 15 million euros to Armenia  to "counter Russian propaganda."