Azernews.Az

YEREVAN – Armenia will receive less financial aid from the United States in 2012, the website of the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee said.

The amount of assistance will be $40 million, down from $45.2 million allocated for 2011, according to a recent decision passed by a congressional panel.

A group of pro-Armenian congressmen had drafted legislation to allocate $60m to the South Caucasus republic next year.

Lawmakers addressing a meeting of the Congressional subcommittee on foreign aid explained the reduction in assistance with the threat posed by the financial crisis to the US economy.

According to the rules, the document on foreign aid must be approved by a House committee next and then by the House of Representatives to become law.

The document on allotting foreign assistance approved by the subcommittee does not cite the self-proclaimed republic run by ethnic Armenians in Azerbaijan’s Nagorno Karabakh region. Congressman Frank Pallone, along with a number of other lawmakers, earlier offered to allocate $10m to the separatist regime.

The congressional subcommittee approved an equal amount of military assistance for Azerbaijan and Armenia in 2012. The amount of assistance has not yet been disclosed. Pro-Armenian Congressman Adam Schiff had suggested during discussions depriving Azerbaijan of such aid.

The amount of assistance to be provided to Azerbaijan is expected to be announced at the forthcoming session of the Foreign Affairs Committee.