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.
