Pelosi traveled with a congressional delegation to Armenia, where a fragile ceasefire has temporarily halted border fighting with neighboring Azerbaijan that has killed more than 200 soldiers in recent days. In Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, the delegation met Sunday with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, whom Pelosi described as a “valuable partner in promoting security, prosperity and democracy in the Caucasus region.” Pelosi said the trip was planned before deadly clashes erupted on September 12 along the border between Azerbaijan and Armenia near the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh in an escalation of a decades-old conflict, as Azerbaijan may have sought to take advantage of Russia’s involvement with its invasion of Ukraine. Armenia is a close ally of Russia, while Azerbaijan is aligned with Turkey. Military officials in Azerbaijan acknowledged the strikes, but accused Armenia of “wide-scale provocation”, laying mines near border facilities and shelling Azerbaijani positions earlier on Monday. Armenia called these claims “absolute lies” and blamed Baku for the renewed hostilities. What you need to know about the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan In a joint news conference Sunday with Armenian National Assembly Speaker Alen Simonyan, Pelosi said it was clear the attacks were carried out by Azerbaijan and must stop, and that the United States should use its influence and leverage to show support in Armenia. “The immediate response from the United States was to stop the violence and have a ceasefire,” Pelosi said. “Our delegation was very forthright, saying that this started with Azeris and that there needs to be recognition and how to stop this.” Pelosi said President Biden has been a staunch supporter of Armenia and promised the two countries would “work together on the next steps” to address the escalation of violence. “Democracy in Armenia is a value to the world, a joy to the world,” Pelosi said. “But we need to broaden the issue… What does security in Armenia mean for regional and global security? What does democracy mean in Armenia to end the struggle between democracy and autocracy that is now going on in the world? In both cases it means a lot.” Pelosi’s office said she is the highest-ranking US official to visit Armenia since the country’s independence in 1991 from the former Soviet Union. Five ways the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh conflict will change the map Other members of the U.S. delegation are Rep. Frank Pallone Jr., (DN.J.) chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Rep. Jackie Speier (D.-Calif.), who is of Armenian descent, and Rep. . Anna G. Eshoo (D-Calif.), who is of Armenian Assyrian descent. The period leading up to the visit has been marked by days of heavy fighting representing the biggest outbreak of hostilities since the full-scale war in 2020, in which Azerbaijan recaptured territory Armenia had held for decades. The six-week war ended in a military victory for Azerbaijan and a fragile Moscow-backed truce in which Armenia surrendered large swaths of territory. The South Caucasus region has long been a source of diplomatic sensitivities for the United States. But after pressure from members of Congress and Armenian-Americans, Biden last year formally recognized a massacre of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire in the early 20th century as genocide, a term the United States has long avoided for fear of damaging its relationship with Turkey. . Historians estimate that 1.5 million Armenians were killed in a campaign of forced marches and mass killings during World War I. Pelosi cited these deaths in the context of the ongoing war in Ukraine. “It is everyone’s moral duty to never forget: an obligation made more urgent as atrocities are committed around the world, including in Russia against Ukraine,” Pelosi said in a statement before her trip. Mary Ilyushina contributed to this report.
