US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Sunday that Azerbaijan bore responsibility for a round of deadly clashes between it and neighbouring Armenia in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.
Leading a delegation of Armenian-American members of Congress on the trip, the Democrat politician condemned Azerbaijan for the clashes that had killed over 200 people, mostly Armenian soldiers.
“We strongly condemn those attacks,” Ms Pelosi said during a speech in the country's capital, Yerevan. “This was initiated by the Azeris and there has to be recognition of that.”
Ms Pelosi said it was clear that the border fighting was triggered by Azeri assaults on Armenia and that the chronology of the conflict should be made clear.
The US, Ms Pelosi said, was listening to Armenia about what its defence needs were and said Washington wanted to help and support Armenia in what she cast as a global struggle between democracy and autocracy.
A senior Armenian official expressed unhappiness last week with the response of a Russian-led military alliance to Yerevan's request for help.
“We are very dissatisfied, of course. The expectations we had were not justified,” parliamentary speaker Alen Simonyan told national television.
He likened the Collective Security Treaty Organisation to a pistol that did not shoot bullets, Interfax news agency reported.
The organisation, dubbed by some Russia's “mini Nato”, comprises six former Soviet states, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan. It is intended to be a peacekeeping alliance with Moscow at the helm, and a rotating presidency.
Ms Pelosi said it was interesting that Armenia was disappointed by the response from the Russian-led alliance.
Last week, she also said the visit would have a broader scope than the current crisis between the two countries, including a discussion of the early 20th century Ottoman-led genocide against the Armenian people, which Azerbaijan's ally Turkey has long refused to recognise as genocide.
“We have taken great pride in finally passing and making the law … the recognition that what happened in Armenia was a genocide over 100 years ago.”
The House speaker was referring to US President Joe Biden's decision last year to officially recognise the Armenian genocide that occurred during the First World War.
Ms Pelosi will also meet Armenian prime minister Nikol Pashinyan and other officials Yerevan, Politico first reported.
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Armenian opposition supporters and relatives of servicemen wounded in the clashes with Azerbaijan's troops gather in front of Parliament in Yerevan to call for the resignation of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. AFP -
The border attacks, which claimed lives on both sides, stoked fears of broader hostilities breaking out between the two countries. AFP -
Armenia said at least 49 of its soldiers were killed while Azerbaijan said it lost 50 troops. AFP -
The fighting erupted minutes after midnight, with Azerbaijani forces unleashing an artillery barrage and drone attacks in many sections of Armenian territory, according to Armenia’s Defence Ministry. AFP -
Azerbaijan accused Armenian troops of planting mines and firing on Azerbaijani military positions. AFP -
Armenia said shelling grew less intense during the day but accused Azerbaijani troops of trying to advance into its territory. AFP -
The two countries have been locked in a decades-old conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, which is part of Azerbaijan but has been under the control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia since a separatist war there ended in 1994. AFP -
An ambulance approaches a military hospital in Yerevan. AFP -
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends an unscheduled session of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation, a Moscow-dominated security alliance of former Soviet nations, after the border attacks between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Reuters -
Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev chairs a meeting with the leadership of the country's armed forces. Reuters -
Azerbaijan's soldiers cross the border as they approach Armenian positions. AP -
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan addresses Parliament in Yerevan. AFP
More than 200 people have died in the border clashes between Armenia and Azerbaijan this week. Yerevan has accused Azerbaijani troops of atrocities in the deadly fighting.
Mr Pashinyan said: “For the moment, the number of [Armenians] dead is 135.”
“Unfortunately, it is not the final figure. There are also many wounded,” he told a Cabinet meeting.
The Caucasus neighbours have fought two wars — in 2020 and in the 1990s — over the contested Nagorno-Karabakh region, Azerbaijan's Armenian-populated enclave.
Yerevan and Baku have each blamed the other of provoking the clashes, which began on Tuesday. A Moscow-brokered ceasefire ended the fighting late on Wednesday night, but the situation remains tense.
Russia, a military ally of Armenia that also strives for friendly relations with Azerbaijan, said it would pressure both countries to pull their forces back to where they were before this week's conflict broke out.
Agencies contributed to this report
