Secretary of State Antony Blinken known as the assault on Nagorno-Karabakh “unacceptable”
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has known as for “an instantaneous finish to hostilities” by Azerbaijan towards the ethnic-Armenian province of Nagorno-Karabakh. The Azeri operation has been condemned by the EU, US, and Russia.
“Azerbaijan’s unacceptable army actions danger worsening the humanitarian state of affairs in Nagorno-Karabakh,” Blinken stated in a press release on X (previously Twitter) on Tuesday. “We name for an instantaneous finish to hostilities and for direct dialogue.”
Earlier on Tuesday, an nameless US official informed Reuters that Blinken would maintain talks with all sides in a bid to finish the “egregious” outbreak of violence within the province.
Azerbaijan launched what it known as “counter-terrorism measures” towards the ethnically-Armenian province of Nagorno-Karabakh earlier on Tuesday. Baku claims that it’s focusing on a buildup of the Armenian army within the province, whereas Yerevan denies deploying items to Nagorno-Karabakh and has accused Azerbaijan of trying to hold out the “ethnic cleaning” of the Armenian enclave.
The Azeri operation has been condemned by the US, EU, and Russia, amongst different powers. Russia brokered a ceasefire between Baku and Yerevan when either side fought over Nagorno-Karabakh in 2020, and maintains a contingent of peacekeepers within the province. Azerbaijan stated that it knowledgeable Russia earlier than launching its army operation, however Russian International Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stated on Tuesday that this warning got here simply “minutes earlier than army motion started.”
The US will not be a proper ally of both Armenia or Azerbaijan, however has bought weapons to Baku since 2002, in alternate for entry to the nation as a launchpad for deploying troops to Afghanistan. These arms gross sales are a bone of competition for the sizable Armenian diaspora within the US, which authorities in Yerevan say numbers as much as two million individuals.
Two of the US’ main NATO allies – France and Germany – have issued condemnations of Azerbaijan’s actions, with French International Minister Catherine Colonna calling the operation “unlawful, unjustifiable, [and] unacceptable.”
One NATO member, Türkiye, has come out in assist of Azerbaijan. The Turkish International Ministry acknowledged that Azerbaijan “was compelled to take measures it deems vital on its sovereign territory.”
Within the Armenian capital of Yerevan, protesters clashed with police exterior authorities buildings. Opposition politicians and activists accuse Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan of abandoning Nagorno-Karabakh when he stated he would acknowledge Azeri sovereignty over the province earlier this summer season.
Azerbaijan has vowed to maintain up the bombardment of Nagorno-Karabakh till Armenian-backed authorities there give up and dissolve their authorities.
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