United States suspends military and other assistance to Azerbaijan until progress in normalization of relations with Armenia
YEREVAN, November 16. /ARKA/. The United States has suspended military and other assistance to Azerbaijan and canceled some high-level visits, US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs James O'Brien said Wednesday.
Speaking at the hearing on “The Future of Nagorno-Karabakh” held by the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee’s Subcommittee on Europe, O’Brien said the United States has signaled to Baku that there will be no normalization of bilateral relations until progress is made in peace talks with Armenia.
‘We've made it clear that nothing will be normal with Azerbaijan after the events of September 19 until we see progress on the peace track. So we have canceled a number of high-level visits, we have condemned (Baku's - ed.) actions and we do not expect to file a notice of waiver of conditions (for further aid disbursement - ed.) until we see a genuine improvement in the situation," O'Brien said,
He said the U.S. has repeatedly signaled that the use of force against Armenia is completely unacceptable. He acknowledged that Azerbaijan had conveyed to the U.S. that there were no such designs.
"The authorities in Baku have assured us that they have no such intention. And we are very closely monitoring troop movements and any indication that they may have other plans. As I indicated, we have told them that there is no chance of going back to business as usual as long as the peace agreement remains outstanding," he said.
Nagorno-Karabakh’s entire 120,000-strong ethnic Armenian population have fled their homes, resettling in Armenia and leaving their personal belongings and their livelihoods behind them within a matter of days after a lightening military operation launched by Azerbaijan last September 19-20.
On September 28, following negotiations with the Azerbaijani side, Nagorno-Karabakh president Samvel Shahramanyan issued a decree dissolving all state institutions. From January 1, 2024 the Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) is to cease to exist. -0-
