The Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, strongly condemned what she called the “illegal” border attacks she launched today, Sunday. Azerbaijan over ArmeniaHe used his visit to Russia’s military ally to pledge American support for Armenia’s sovereignty.
During an interview in Yerevan, Pelosi noted that his visit is of particular importance in the wake of the “illegal and deadly attacks launched by Azerbaijan on Armenian lands”, which have led to border clashes that have killed more than two hundred people.
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“We strongly condemn these attacks – said Pelosi – It was the Azeris who started all this and this must be acknowledged”. He said it was clear that border fighting had broken out following the Azerbaijani attacks on Armenia and that the timeline of the conflict needed to be clarified.
Pelosi noted that the United States is listening to Armenia regarding its defense needs, adding that Washington wants to help and support Armenia in what it described as a global struggle between democracy and authoritarianism.
Last week, a senior Armenian official expressed his dissatisfaction with the response of a Russian-led military coalition to Yerevan’s call for help. Armenia requested intervention from the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization, but sent only a fact-finding team.
“Of course we are very upset,” Parliament Speaker Alain Simonyan told national television, comparing the CSTO to a gun that doesn’t fire.
It is notable that Armenia was disappointed with the response from the Russian-led coalition, Pelosi said.
Pelosi visited the Armenian Genocide Memorial, where she was seen crying and laying a bouquet of roses.
On Saturday, the congressional delegation arrived in Armenia, where a ceasefire was held for three days after clashes broke out with neighboring Azerbaijan, which killed more than 200 soldiers from both sides.
The ceasefire went into effect Wednesday evening after two days of violent clashes, the largest in nearly two years.
Armenia and Azerbaijan exchanged accusations of the clashes, with Armenian authorities accusing Baku of unprovoked aggression, while Azerbaijani officials said their country was responding to Armenian attacks.
Pashinyan said at least 135 Armenian soldiers were killed in the clashes. On Friday, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense announced the killing of 77 soldiers.
The two former Soviet states have been locked in a decade-long conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, which is part of Azerbaijan but controlled by Armenian-backed ethnic forces since the end of the separatist war in 1994.
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