Pelosi in Armenia: "Resolution introduced in US Congress to condemn Azerbaijan"
Officials of a visiting United States delegate told a press conference in Armenian capital Yerevan on Sunday that a resolution was introduced in the US Congress to condemn Azerbaijan over its recent aggression against Armenia.
The press conference was attended by members of the US delegation headed by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi -the highest-ranking US official to visit Armenia since the Republic achieved its independence in 1991- and Armenian officials headed by Alen Simonyan, Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia.
Asked by a reporter whether the US will provide military aid to Armenia, Pelosi said, "We've come to hear what Armenians need."
Stressing that the ongoing conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan signifies a battle between democracy and autocracy, Pelosi said that the most pressing issues following recent clashes between the two countries were a lasting ceasefire and a recognition of how the recent clashes began on 13 September.
????US House Speaker Nancy #Pelosi attended a press conference in #Yerevan after she visited the memorial for the victims of the Armenian Genocide.
— GercekNews (@newsgercek) September 18, 2022
????Asked by a reporter whether the #US will provide military aid to #Armenia, Pelosi said, "We've come to hear what Armenians need." pic.twitter.com/hi4zhCYAVn
Pelosi earlier said on Twitter:
"Today, from the US to Ukraine to Taiwan to Armenia, the world faces a choice between democracy and autocracy - and we must, again, choose democracy."
The US delegation arrived Saturday in Armenia, four days after deadly clashes broke out between Armenia and Azerbaijan, who reportedly launched coordinated attacks against the former along the border.
Pelosi visited the Yerevan Memorial for the victims of the 1915 Armenian Genocide before the press conference on Sunday.
She said in a statement:
“We are proud to travel to Yerevan following the 2019 passage of House Resolution 296, introduced by Chairman Adam Schiff, which recognizes the murder of 1.5 million Armenians by the Ottoman Empire as genocide, and following President Biden becoming the first president to formally acknowledge the Armenian Genocide. It is the moral duty of all to never forget: an obligation that has taken on heightened urgency as atrocities are perpetrated around the globe, including by Russia against Ukraine.”
Is Armenia drifting towards the West?
Secretary of the Armenian Security Council Armen Grigoryan told Azatutyun Radio on Friday that Armenia had counted on military and political assistance from the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) to protect its sovereignty against Azerbaijani incursions, but it turned out to be ineffective.
"That was our demand to the CSTO, but it has not been fulfilled yet. Naturally, this cannot satisfy us," he said.
Asked whether Armenia will leave CSTO, Grigoryan said: "it's the CSTO, not Armenia, who should think about it."
Upon an earlier US visit of an Armenian delegation led by the Defense Minister Suren Papikyan, political analyst Hovsep Khurshudyan said that the "process of Armenia’s liberation from Russia" has begun and this can not happen without the support of the West.
Khurshudyan also emphasized the significance of the invitation of Armenia to the European Union's Prague summit in October.
