The State Department is neutral, but Senator Ed Markey (D-Mass.) is backing Armenia.
U.S. policymakers are warning Armenia and Azerbaijan to stand down after fourteen people died in a deadly border clash between the two post-Soviet republics.
Armenia and Azerbaijan have been at odds over the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh since both countries obtained independence from the Soviet Union in the early 1990s. The two sides agreed to a ceasefire in 1994 but have been unable to come to a permanent peace agreement in international talks.
This week’s events have threatened to unravel the peace process, as the deadliest clashes in years erupted along the tense border. The fighting began on Sunday and has killed at least sixteen people as of Tuesday afternoon, including an Azerbaijani major-general.
“The United States condemns in the strongest terms the violence along the Armenia-Azerbaijan international border,” State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus wrote in a Monday statement. “We urge the sides to stop using force immediately, use the existing direct communication links between them to avoid further escalation, and strictly adhere to the ceasefire.”
Read more ....
WNU Editor: The US is not the only country that is worried that Armenia and Azerbaijan may go to war .... Kremlin Orders 'Surprise' Military Exercises Near Southern Border With Ukraine, Caspian, Black Seas (July 19, 2020).
