US Embassy Offered to Act as ‘Go-Between’ Sargsyan and Ter-Petrossian

On Feb. 29, 2008, then US Charges d’Affaires to Armenia Joseph Pennington sent a confidential cable to the US State Department in which he describes an offer he made to then Armenian Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan.

 

In the cable, which was recently leaked to the public, Pennington notes that a US embassy official sought a meeting with PM adviser Levon Martirosyan, during which he said the US government is concerned about the “seeming political stalemate” following the contested presidential election and would like to offer to serve as a “go-between” Sargsyan and the opposition movement led by first president of the Republic of Armenia Levon Ter-Petrossian (LTP).

 

The embassy official also expressed to Martirosyan, “Though the opposition protest rallies seem likely to be on a downward trend, their continued existence represents a risk of possible clash, and indicates a significant public constituency that remains unhappy and unreconciled to the PM’s victory” and “While the LTP camp’s public statements have been unrealistic and maximalist, we have had one ambiguous overture from an LTP lieutenant suggesting that the USG [US Government] involve itself in mediation.”

 

Pennington notes that the embassy representative emphasized that they are neither seeking to encourage protestors nor pushing to “intrude” themselves into the political situation. “If the PM’s answer is ‘no, thank you,’ we are perfectly prepared to accept that demurral. We offer ourselves only in an attempt to be helpful at reconciliation between the two opposing sides, in the spirit of the PM’s Feb. 26 address calling for inclusiveness and compromise, if the PM feels that would be useful in bridging the divide,” reads the cable.

 

Martirosyan reportedly thanked the embassy for their offer and promised to to convey it promptly to Sargsyan. Pennington notes: “His reaction seemed skeptical overall, though he did mention that there are doubtless some influential players in the LTP camp who might be willing to accept some kind of reasonable alternative to the current confrontation.”