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Chairman Menendez Leads Senate Foreign Relations Committee Calls for Enforcing Section 907 Restrictions on U.S. Aid to Azerbaijan

WASHINGTON – Under intense grilling on Thursday by the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, a mid-level Biden-Harris Administration aide repeatedly dodged direct questions about the State Department’s failure to break Azerbaijan’s genocidal blockade of Artsakh – even refusing, on national security grounds, to answer Chairman Robert Menendez’s (D-NJ) straightforward query about Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s motives for starving 120,000 indigenous Christian Armenians, reported the Armenian National Committee of America.

Acting U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Yuri Kim

Today’s hearing, titled “Assessing the Crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh,” was chaired by Sen. Menendez (D-NJ) and featured testimony by Acting Assistant Secretary for Europe and Eurasia Yuri Kim. The chair led members of the Committee in direct, often confrontational questioning of the State Department refusal to hold Azerbaijan accountable or to provide urgently needed humanitarian aid to Artsakh.

“The signature moment – the defining exchange – of today’s Senate Foreign Relations Committee Artsakh hearing was Acting Assistant Secretary Yuri Kim hiding behind a transparently slippery appeal to state secrets to avoid answering a straightforward question about Aliyev’s obvious motives for blockading Artsakh,” stated ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. “The Armenian American community joins Chairman Menendez in demanding answers about the State Department’s refusal to forcefully confront Azerbaijan’s genocidal ethnic cleansing of Artsakh.”

Chairman Menendez was emphatic about the urgency of the situation in Artsakh, stating, “as we sit here today with the lives of so many people hanging in the balance, time is of the essence. The former prosecutor at the International Criminal Court, Luis Moreno Ocampo, recently wrote, ‘Starvation is the invisible genocide weapon. Without immediate dramatic change, this group of Armenians will be destroyed in a few weeks.’ That is how long we have.  I would ask our witness to speak to what the [State] Department is doing, what the Biden Administration is doing, and what the international community must do to avert this atrocity from being carried out before our own eyes.”

Sen. Chris Van Hollen Sen. Jeanne Shaheen Sen. Ben Cardin Sen. Chris Murphy

Acting Assistant Secretary Kim held to standard State Department refrains regarding the deteriorating situation in Artsakh.  “I want to be clear that we view the status quo as completely unacceptable,” stated Acting Assistant Secretary Kim, who went on to urge the immediate opening of the Lachin corridor while also supporting Azerbaijan’s calls for the opening of additional routes that could undermine Artsakh’s security.

She praised Secretary Blinken’s Azerbaijan-Armenia mediation efforts, held under duress during Azerbaijan’s genocidal blockade.  “Secretary Blinken has hosted three rounds of peace negotiations with the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan since last November, and his leadership has yielded results. The sides have made progress on a peace agreement that could stabilize the region.”

She concluded her prepared remarks, noting: “The United States will not countenance any effort or action, short-term or long-term, to ethnically cleanse or commit other atrocities against the Armenian people of Nagorno-Karabakh.”

However, when asked by Senator Menendez “why the United States is not or cannot do more to get humanitarian assistance [to Artsakh],” the Acting Assistant Secretary of State pointed to the passage of a single Russian Red Cross truck through the secondary Aghdam road to Artsakh, noting “that traffic is now flowing,” though she agreed with Senate leaders, “it is not enough.”

When asked by Senator Menendez, “why do you think, despite its signed commitments and a ruling by the International Court of Justice to open the Lachin Corridor, that Aliyev is not opening the corridor,” Acting Assistant Secretary Kim refused to answer publicly, inferring the matter is classified.

An “amazed” and clearly disappointed Senator Menendez offered his own answer.  “He [President Aliyev] doesn’t want to open the corridor because he is in the process of trying to subjugate these people by starvation, or by the threat of starvation, and at the end of the day subject them to his will. That doesn’t have to be classified.”

Senators Reissue Calls for Enforcing Section 907 Restrictions on U.S. Assistance to Azerbaijan; Express Concerns about US-Azerbaijan Relationship

Chairman Menendez was joined by Senator Benjamin Cardin (D-MD) and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) in pressing the State Department to enforce Section 907 restrictions on US military assistance to Azerbaijan.

“I have repeatedly expressed my deep opposition to waiving Section 907 of the Freedom Support Act, allowing the United States to send assistance to his regime. This clearly alters the balance of military power between Azerbaijan and Armenia in Aliyev’s favor. I think Azerbaijan’s actions over the past three years have vindicated my skepticism,” stated Chairman Menendez.

“When you routinely give the waiver under Section 907, saying that Azerbaijan has demonstrated steps to cease all blockades and other offensive uses of force against Armenia when that’s just not the case,” stated Sen. Cardin, “we lose credibility when that happens, when we aren’t prepared to take decisive steps based upon our values.”

Senator Van Hollen stressed that the waiver of Section 907 should not only be based on national security considerations, but as the law states, the impact of the waiver on the Azerbaijan-Armenia peace process.  “Based on your statements from April, the State Department’s statements from April, it’s pretty clear that at least as of then, in your own words, in the State Department’s own words, it was undermining confidence in the peace process. And I don’t see anything that’s changed from that day to this.”

Acting Assistant Secretary Kim defended previous waivers of Section 907, noting that assistance has been used for counter-terrorism and other purposes.  She confirmed that President Biden’s 2022 waiver had expired in June. “We have not submitted a new waiver request yet because we are reviewing the situation very carefully,” stated Acting Assistant Secretary Kim.

Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) was skeptical of the State Department’s effectiveness in addressing the Artsakh crisis. “This is obviously a crisis, an active difficult, question regarding the pressure points on Azerbaijan but at this point I think you have to put all possible tools on the table because gentle diplomacy does not seem to be working,” stated Senator Murphy.  He also commented on Azerbaijan’s growing ties with Russia in the energy sector and asked, “So what are the implications for the U.S. and for Europe as Azerbaijan and Russia draw closer; what is the nature of that relationship, and did we make the wrong bet?”

Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) noted that she shares “the concerns that have been expressed about Azerbaijan’s continued obstruction of the Lachin Corridor. In New Hampshire, we have a large Armenian diaspora, and we hear consistently from them about their concerns that Azerbaijan’s blockade has resulted in severe humanitarian suffering, that it should be lifted immediately.”

Other Senators participating in the hearing included Senate Foreign Relations Committee Ranking Member James Risch (R-ID) and Senators Pete Ricketts (R-NE) and Tim Kaine (D-VA).

Russia is systematically discussing with the Armenian and Azerbaijani sides various solutions for the Lachin corridor, TASS reported, citing Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

“The Russian side is systematically pushing ahead with its work both with Baku and Yerevan. We will continue to do so. Quite recently the first batch of humanitarian aid arrived [in Karabakh]. The delivery was organized, by the way, thanks to efforts by the Russian side. We will continue this work. Various options are being discussed and worked out with the parties concerned,” he said, when asked for a comment on the US Department State’s statements on the need for immediately opening the Lachin corridor because of the humanitarian situation in Karabakh.

As Russian President Vladimir Putin said on September 12, the Armenian leadership actually recognized Azerbaijan’s sovereignty over Nagorno-Karabakh and simply put it on paper in its Prague statement. At the same time, such a context raises questions related to the humanitarian component and the mandate of Russian peacekeepers in the region, Putin emphasized.

Russia is systematically discussing with the Armenian and Azerbaijani sides various solutions for the Lachin corridor, TASS reported, citing Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

“The Russian side is systematically pushing ahead with its work both with Baku and Yerevan. We will continue to do so. Quite recently the first batch of humanitarian aid arrived [in Karabakh]. The delivery was organized, by the way, thanks to efforts by the Russian side. We will continue this work. Various options are being discussed and worked out with the parties concerned,” he said, when asked for a comment on the US Department State’s statements on the need for immediately opening the Lachin corridor because of the humanitarian situation in Karabakh.

As Russian President Vladimir Putin said on September 12, the Armenian leadership actually recognized Azerbaijan’s sovereignty over Nagorno-Karabakh and simply put it on paper in its Prague statement. At the same time, such a context raises questions related to the humanitarian component and the mandate of Russian peacekeepers in the region, Putin emphasized.

Routes into Azerbaijan’s breakaway territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, including a key link known as the Lachin corridor,  remained blocked at the weekend despite a claimed deal between the two sides on humanitarian aid deliveries.

Tensions have been rising in the region as Armenia holds military exercises with US forces, Nagorno-Karabakh elects a new leadership, and Azerbaijan builds up its forces on the border,  which may have doomed the reported breakthrough on humanitarian aid shipments before it even began to be implemented.

Nagorno-Karabakh authorities have claimed a deal was struck on opening the border, but confirmation from Baku has so far been lacking.

“The authorities of the Republic of Artsakh (the self-designation of the ethnic Armenians in Karabakh), proceeding from the need to alleviate the acute humanitarian problems caused by the total blockade carried out by Azerbaijan, decided to allow the import of Russian cargoes to our republic through the town of Askeran. An agreement was reached to restore the transportation of humanitarian goods through the Lachin corridor through Russian peacekeepers and the International Committee of the Red Cross,” the statement by the authorities in Nagorno-Karabakh said, according to news.am website.

Under the reported deal, Azerbaijan has agreed to allow humanitarian aid through its blockade of the Lachin corridor to Armenia so long as the Nagorno-Karabakh authorities also allow the reopening of the route into Azerbaijan via Askeran. The Askeran route would be the first time  a transport link had been opened up from Azerbaijan since Nagorno-Karabakh broke away in the early 1990s, marking a symbolic victory for Baku.

However, currently, an ICRC truck is blocked near the Lachin border checkpoint on Armenian territory according to local Azerbaijani media. Baku has blocked Nagorno-Karabakh’s only route to the outside world since December 2022, causing severe hardship inside the territory.

“Although the Azerbaijani side is ready to ensure its passage across the border in accordance with the legislation of the country, the Armenians do not want to accept it. Because they know that if an ICRC truck passes through the Lachin border point, at the same time another truck with food must enter along the Aghdam road. To prevent this, the Armenians do not accept cargo along the Lachin road, dooming themselves to hunger,” the Azerbaijani website Report said.

A Russian Red Cross wagon is also currently halted in Barda, close to the Karabakh region, the local media reported. The truck with food and non-food items was sent in accordance with a memorandum of cooperation between the Azerbaijan Red Crescent Society and the Russian Red Cross, initiated by the Russian government, in order to meet the needs of Armenians.

YEREVAN (Azatutyun.am)—Two U.S. generals have arrived in Armenia to watch an ongoing U.S.-Armenian military exercise criticized by Russia and Iran.

Major General Gregory Anderson, the commander of the U.S. Army’s 10th Mountain Division, and Brigadier General Patrick Ellis, a deputy chief of staff of the U.S. troops in Europe, joined Armenia’s top military officials on Friday in visiting one of the two training grounds where 85 U.S. and 175 Armenian soldiers are holding the Eagle Partner 2023 exercise.

The Armenian Defense Ministry said that Defense Minister Suren Papikyan, the chief of the Armenian army’s General Staff, Lieutenant-General Eduard Asryan, and the U.S. generals observed its “active phase.”

“Our ties with Armenia are multifaceted and cooperative,” the U.S. Embassy in Yerevan quoted Anderson as saying in a statement. “The U.S. has consistently extended military assistance to Armenia, especially in bolstering the nation’s capabilities in crucial areas such as nonproliferation and peacekeeping.”

Scenes from U.S.-Armenia joint military drill on Sept. 15

For her part, U.S. Ambassador Kristina Kvien described the 10-day drills as a “testament to our longstanding partnership with Armenia.” They will build upon “decades of successful peacekeeping and security cooperation” between the two countries, she said.

Asryan also attended their opening ceremony held on Monday. According to the Defense Ministry in Yerevan, the participating troops are simulating a joint peacekeeping operation in an imaginary conflict zone.

The ministry announced the drills last week amid Armenia’s unprecedented tensions with Russia. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stoked the tensions with a newspaper interview in which he declared that his government is trying to “diversify our security policy” because Russia is “unwilling or unable” to protect Armenia.

Russia condemned Pashinyan’s remarks. The Russian Foreign Ministry listed them and the U.S.-Armenian drills among Yerevan’s “unfriendly” actions in a note of protest handed to the Armenian ambassador in Moscow on September 8.
Pashinyan essentially stood by his statement in another interview publicized late on Wednesday. Russia’s defense “capabilities have changed” as a result of the war in Ukraine, he told Politico.eu.

Pashinyan’s political allies as well as Western-funded civic groups have welcomed the apparent pro-Western shift in Armenia’s traditional foreign policy orientation. By contrast, Armenian opposition groups are seriously concerned about it. They say that the policy change is reckless because the United States and other Western powers will not give Armenia security guarantees or significant military aid.

The U.S.-Armenian exercise has also prompted concern from neighboring Iran. Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian told his Armenian counterpart Ararat Mirzoyan on Wednesday that it could “further complicate the situation in the region.”

Hearings on Nagorno-Karabakh in the US Senate

“The United States will not tolerate any attempt at ethnic cleansing against Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians, military action, or other atrocities, whether in the short or long term,” Acting Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Yuri Kim said.

At a U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on “Assessing the Nagorno-Karabakh Crisis,” Kim called on the Azerbaijani government to unblock the Lachin corridor.

According to political scientist Suren Surenyants, if the U.S. wants to play a decisive role in the current situation, it should take two steps: stop providing military aid to Azerbaijan and impose sanctions on Baku.

• “Neutrality of mediators encourages the party that uses force” – Pashinyan

• “Intense behind-the-scenes negotiations are underway.” Comment from Baku

“We keep saying that we need to open the Lachin corridor”

Yuri Kim: “We keep saying that we need to open the Lachin corridor for the movement of commercial, humanitarian transport and private cars.” She called on Baku to restore free movement along the Lachin corridor as soon as possible, but added:

“The U.S. recognizes the importance of additional routes. We must continue to encourage all sides to work constructively.”

Kim said the U.S. administration is concerned about the blockage of the Lachin corridor and its implications for NK Armenians. Reported that intensive work has been underway for several months to address the humanitarian crisis with Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, Senior Advisor for Caucasus Negotiations Louis Bono and USAID partners.

“Louis Bono is back in the region to push for the immediate delivery of supplies to Nagorno-Karabakh,” she said.

“We’ve got a few weeks.”

Senate Foreign Policy Committee Chairman Bob Menendez quoted part of a report by former International Criminal Court prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo that said, “Starvation is the invisible weapon of genocide. Without immediate drastic changes, this group of Armenians will be wiped out within weeks.” Menendez continued:

“Time is of the essence. President Aliyev says he is not organizing ethnic cleansing. But that is exactly what he is doing.”

According to the senator, Aliyev’s goal is to “force Armenians to submit or starve them into submission.” He appealed to the Biden administration to “eliminate the blockade, threats to the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh, and immediately open the Lachin corridor.” He expressed hope that opportunities would be found to alleviate the humanitarian crisis and measures that could force Baku authorities to unblock the road connecting NK territory with Armenia.

“And why are we no longer publicly discussing sanctions for actions that I think we can all agree are clearly worthy of punishment,” he said.

Talking about the Armenian-Azerbaijani talks and the U.S. mediation of that dialog, he said:

“The reality is this: talk is useless when one side of these talks is engaged in a campaign of ethnic cleansing.”

U.S. Senate Hearings

Commentary

Political scientist Suren Surenyants says that there is a decision of the Hague Court obliging Azerbaijan to unblock the Lachin corridor, which Azerbaijan is ignoring:

“If no coercive measures are applied, the Senate hearings can be considered only as a gesture of moral support.”

He believes that holding these hearings is a very important step in itself, but “cannot have a significant impact on the situation”.

Asked “what is the reason for Western countries not applying sanctions against Baku – the common interest or Yerevan’s inaction,” he replied:

“There is a geopolitical consensus on the Nagorno-Karabakh issue in general, despite the contradictions of all sides. Their disputes concern who should be the moderator of the region, but they have no serious disagreements on substantive issues.”

Surenyants says that when the Russian Federation sent humanitarian aid for Armenians under blockade via the Agdam route, i.e. through the territory of Azerbaijan, the European Union welcomed this step:

“Azerbaijan is a much more important partner than Armenia at the moment, both for the West and for Russia. I don’t think any country in the world will stand together with Armenia against Azerbaijan, especially because of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue. I think such a scenario is impossible.”

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Hearings on Nagorno-Karabakh in the US Senate