What happened in the hearing of “The Future of Karabakh” in the US Congress Committee?

, yesterday the hearing on “the future of Karabakh” was held in the European and Eurasian Subcommittee of the US House of Representatives Foreign Relations Committee.

James O’Brien, The US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, and Alexander Sokoloksi, the US Agency for International Development’s Deputy Assistant Director for European and Eurasian Affairs, participated in the hearing as witnesses.

James O’Brien, US Deputy Secretary of State in the Bureau of Europe and Eurasia of the Department of State, said in the US Congress’s “Future of Karabakh” hearing: “The United States continues to prepare reports on the events in Nagorno-Karabakh and to support Trying from Armenia. After the events of September 19, we have announced that until there is progress towards peace, nothing will be normal with Azerbaijan. Therefore, we have canceled many visits of high-ranking officials to Baku to condemn Azerbaijan’s actions. America is to reach a peace agreement between Baku and Yerevan.

He emphasized: The subject of the investigation by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is only what happened in September in Nagorno-Karabakh. is not. This study also analyzes the events that happened in the months before the Armenians of Karabakh left their homes in a few days.

O’Brien noted: We have invited independent inspectors and have our own inspectors at work. In addition, there is information from international non-governmental organizations and other researchers. By filing an incident report, we will be completely open about all of our findings. I cannot provide an exact time frame for the outcome of this investigation, but we will keep you posted as it progresses.

Keeping Russia out of negotiations

James O’Brien said that the US State Department It is satisfied with the commitment of the Armenian government to reforms and efforts to diversify economic, energy and security relations, especially in the direction of the trans-Atlantic community.

The members of this committee also talked about the relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

It was also emphasized that the countries that hinder these relations, including Russia, should be kept away from the negotiations.

In these talks, it was noted that Turkey’s sense of responsibility as a NATO ally is important in these processes.

Continuation of America’s negative attitude towards Azerbaijan until the signing of peace

Bill Keating, a committee member, said: “Although significant progress was made in months of diplomatic negotiations, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev resorted to military force in Karabakh in September, abandoning an acceptable and internationally legitimate diplomatic path.” I strongly believe that we should provide humanitarian and economic support to the refugees who have gone to Armenia and ensure accountability for possible crimes against those who flee Nagorno-Karabakh or those who choose to stay there.

In this question and answer session, the necessity of concluding a peace treaty between Azerbaijan and Armenia as soon as possible was emphasized.

James O’Brien said that until a peace document is signed between Baku and Yerevan, America’s attitude towards Azerbaijan will not be the same as before.

The American diplomat talked about possible pressure on Azerbaijan if necessary, as well as the fact that the 907 amendment, which prohibits the United States from providing security assistance to Baku, will not be suspended for the first time in decades.

O’Brien, referring to Armenia’s concern about Azerbaijan’s possible aggression, said that the authorities of Azerbaijan announced that they have no such intention, he said: “Opening the transport corridor in the region using force is unacceptable and this issue has been brought to the attention of Baku.” O’Brien said about the peace talks that the next few weeks will show whether the parties have good intentions in this regard.

After O’Brien attended the meeting, the witness noted in his introductory speech that the US Agency for International Development in Europe and Eurasia met with the leadership of Armenia and gathered information about the country’s needs, including the visit of Samantha Power, the head of the agency, to Armenia. And at the same time, he met with Armenians who were relocated from Karabagh on the border of Azerbaijan. The country spoke and said: Thanks to the generous support of the United States Congress, USAID has been able to increase its support in Armenia by 50% since 2018. This support gave us the opportunity to work with the Armenian government and civil society. At the same time, this support will strengthen Armenia’s economic growth, citizen participation, diversity in energy supply and pluralistic information environment.

Then the committee members O’Brien and Sokoloksi asked questions about the American policy in the Caucasus region, the latest status of the peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia, the influence of Russia and Iran in this region, the management and leadership of Azerbaijan after the military operation in Karabakh, as well as the future of relations between the United States and Azerbaijan and Armenia.