Nalbandyan said Javakh Armenians' counteraction could harm Georgia: Wikileaks

According to a leaked U.S. diplomatic document, Armenian authorities felt deeply offended as their phone calls were repeatedly ignored by the Georgian leaders during Georgia’s 2008 war with Russia.

"Top Armenian officials are growing increasingly offended by Georgians’ non-responsiveness to Armenian efforts to reach out,” Joseph Pennington, who was the U.S. charge d’affaires in Armenia at the time, wrote in a confidential cable publicized by WikiLeaks this week. “Armenians feel their good intentions have been met with an undeserved cold shoulder."

President Serzh Sargsyan sought to maintain neutrality in the weeklong Russian-Georgian war. Sargsyan faced strong criticism from his political opponents and some media outlets after he discussed the situation with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev by phone on August 13, 2008 and only sent a letter to Saakashvili the next day. Critics viewed that an indirect endorsement of Russian military action.

Citing an unnamed Sargsyan aide, Pennington wrote that in fact the Armenian leader tried to phone both Medvedev and Saakashvili on the same day but was unable to get in touch with the latter. “After repeated attempts to get a call through, Sargsyan finally just sent a letter to Saakashvili, in a substitute effort to show support for the Georgian side,” he said.

Pennington added that Nalbandyan and Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan were likewise unable to contact their Georgian counterparts. He said Nalbandyan met him on August 15 to complain about the “hostile attitude” of the Georgians.

“Visibly agitated, FM Nalbandyan noted that Armenia is trying to help Georgia by taking in more than 4,000 refugees and offering to serve as a humanitarian corridor for international relief efforts,” reveals the document.

“The final indignity, according to the FM, was when FM Tkeshelashvili arrived at Yerevan Airport at 4:00 am on August 15 en route overland to Tbilisi and declined Nalbandyan’s proposal for a short Airport meeting at that hour. Tkeshelashvili said she was ‘under instructions’ to return to Tbilisi immediately,” it says.

According to Pennington, the then Georgian ambassador to Armenia shared the Armenian frustration but blamed Tbilisi’s lack of responsiveness on the emergency situation in Georgia. The U.S. diplomat found this justification “very valid,” suggesting that the Armenian leaders felt offended, in large measure, because of their relative inexperience.

“Both the president and foreign minister remain new enough in their jobs for such perceived slights to sting more than perhaps would be the case of more seasoned hands,” he said.

"Armenia refrains from all kind of negative statements against Georgia. Should such statement be made, there will be a strong counteraction by Armenians of Javahk that could harm Georgia. This is not the trump card Armenia prepares for Georgia. That’s' the reality," the letter quoted Nalbandyan as saying.