YEREVAN. – US Ambassador to Armenia, Richard Mills, on Tuesday made a very strange and shocking statement to reporters, according to Haykakan Zhamanak newspaper.

Speaking about recently appointed Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan, he said what he had listened so far from the PM, and with respect to giving priority to the matter of corruption, is encouraging. Mills believes that Karapetyan is responding to the problems that he is hearing from the Armenian people.

As per the US diplomat, corruption must be fought against, also since it can hamper business growth and investments in Armenia.

In his view, corruption can be a problem also for national security, since it can enable corrupt officials and corrupts businessmen outside Armenia to have an effect on developments in Armenia.

“If we have a correct understanding of the course of the thoughts of Richard Mills, then he considers Karen Karapetyan a corrupt Russia official, whose appointment as Prime Minister of Armenia is a national security threat.

“Naturally, the addressee of this statement is not only Karapetyan; this is also a speech directed at [Armenia’s President] Serzh Sargsyan because, after all, he invited Karapetyan to Armenia [from Russia],” wrote Haykakan Zhamanak.