DM Monitoring
BAKU: Azerbaijan on Sunday scolded US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi for claiming that Baku had started a border conflict with Armenia, saying the “unsubstantiated and unfair” remarks were a serious blow to peace efforts.
Pelosi on Sunday strongly condemned what she said were “illegal” border attacks by Azerbaijan on Armenia, using a visit to the Russian ally to pledge American support for its sovereignty.
“The unsubstantiated and unfair accusations leveled by Pelosi against Azerbaijan are unacceptable,” the foreign ministry said in a statement. “Pelosi is known as a pro-Armenian politician.” “This is a serious blow to the efforts to normalize relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan,” the foreign ministry said, casting Pelosi’s remarks as “Armenian propaganda.”
Azerbaijan repeated its position that the fighting was the result of “a large-scale military provocation” by Armenia, a narrative rejected by Yerevan.
“Currently, the cease-fire is being observed and the escalation of the situation has been prevented,” Azerbaijan said. Azerbaijan said Pelosi’s remarks were an attempt to cater to Armenian-Americans ahead of the U.S. midterm elections.
“It is unacceptable to transfer the domestic political intrigues on the U.S. agenda and lobbying interests to the South Caucasus region through Armenia,” Azerbaijan said.
Pelosi’s comments, it said, were perilous. “Such unilateral steps and baseless statements serve not to strengthen the fragile peace in the region, but, on the contrary, to escalate tensions,” the foreign ministry said. Separately, the attacks of the Armenian nationals living in foreign countries on the buildings of the diplomatic missions of Azerbaijan have caused serious concern. According to Trend, this is stated in the statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan. “These attacks, containing elements of vandalism and terrorism, are aimed at causing harm to diplomats and their property, and are characterized as criminal acts.
We strongly condemn the criminal actions of radical Armenian groups and expect a responsible attitude to their duties from the structures responsible for preventing such provocations in the respective countries.
The Azerbaijani side demands that the acts of vandalism committed by Armenian radicals be investigated by the law enforcement agencies of the respective states and a legal assessment be given to the actions of the perpetrators of these crimes.
We recall that, in accordance with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961, the host State has a special obligation to take all appropriate measures to protect the premises of the mission from any intrusion or damage and to prevent any disturbance of the peace of the mission or affront to its dignity,” the statement said.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi arrived in Armenia on Saturday, leading a congressional delegation in a show of support for the small south Caucasus nation after an outbreak of fighting with neighboring Azerbaijan resulted in the deaths of more than 200 people this week.
Ms. Pelosi said that she would meet with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in the capital, Yerevan, as well as with other officials to convey “the strong and ongoing support of the United States” for Armenia and for a lasting settlement to the conflict between the two neighbors over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh.
The trip was seen as a political move by Ms. Pelosi ahead of the midterm elections in November. She is the highest-ranking American official to visit Armenia since it gained independence 30 years ago with the end of the Soviet Union, her office said in a statement. She was accompanied by Representatives Jackie Speier and Anna G. Eshoo, both Armenian Americans from California, where there is a large Armenian community.
The visit, Ms. Pelosi’s latest effort to flex the legislative branch’s diplomatic muscle, comes amid an eruption of war in Europe and points to the shifting balance of power around the former Soviet empire where the United States has long sought to build influence. The recent fighting, which spilled into Armenia, is the worst since a full-scale war there killed thousands in 2020, and it has made Armenia appear particularly vulnerable.
