ArmInfo.The U.S. must strongly condemn Azerbaijan and make it clear that its actions are
unacceptable, U.S. Congress member Seth Magaziner said in an interview with the Voice of America Armenian service. He led a group of about 90 U.S. Congress members that addressed a letter to U.S.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen calling for sanctions against Baku for military operations in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Azerbaijan had no reasons for military operations in
Nagorno-Karabakh, which followed an unacceptable blockade of the
region for many months. He called for suspending al aid to Azerbaijan
to force it into returning to the negotiating table to find a
peaceful solution that would ensure the protection of Armenians in
the region.
A group of Congressmen had contacts with the U.S. Administration a
few months before the hostilities as they were concerned over the
blockade that had lasted for months and its humanitarian
consequences. The U.S. Administration, concerned over the fact, was
surprised by the Azerbaijani attack. Mr Magaziner believes that the
U.S. Administration will from now on take on a harder line as
Azerbaijan has shown it is not committed to a peaceful settlement and
must be forced into finding a peaceful solution.
Mr Magaziner stressed that the recent developments are a failure of
Russian peacekeepers as well. that was one of the instances of
alleged concurrence of American and Russian interests in ensuring
regional peace. The Russian peacekeepers has been stationed there
for a long period, but they failed to prevent Azerbaijan's attack
against the Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians, which is a deplorable fact,
the U.S. Congressman said.
Mr Magaziner believes that Moscow's accusations against Yerevan are
aimed at diverting the attention from the Russia's failures. He said
he does not know about any actions by Armenia that would provoke the
military actions. The Armenian side was concerned over humanitarian
issues, whereas Azerbaijan resorted to military force.
Mr Magaziner calls on the U.S. and its partners to assume a leading
role in establishing peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan. His office
maintains contacts with the U.S. Department of State and USAID urging
them to increase humanitarian assistance to Nagorno-Karabakh
Armenians.
