Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi yesterday strongly condemned, as she said, "illegal" cross-border attacks by Azerbaijan on Armenia, using her visit to ally Russia to promise US aid to that country's sovereignty.
Pelosi described the visit to Armenia, which is located between Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey and Iran, as an attempt to strengthen support for what she called the backbone of democracy.
Speaking in Yerevan, Pelosi said her visit was significant following "unlawful and deadly attacks by Azerbaijan on Armenian territory" that sparked border clashes that killed more than 200 people.
"We strongly condemn those attacks," Pelosi said, speaking alongside Armenian Parliament Speaker Alen Simonyan, who expressed displeasure last Sunday with the Russian-led military alliance's response to Yerevan's request for help.
Pelosi, who angered China last month with a visit to Taiwan, said it was clear that the border clashes were caused by Azerbaijan's attacks on Armenia and that the chronology of events should be clearly presented. "The conflicts were initiated by the Azerbaijanis and that should be recognized," said Pelosi.
Her statements provoked an unusually harsh reaction from Baku, which announced that she was threatening peace in the Caucasus.
"The unsubstantiated and unfair accusations that Pelosi made against Azerbaijan are unacceptable," the statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs states. "This is a serious blow to efforts to normalize relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan," the ministry said, calling Pelosi's statements "Armenian propaganda."
Such categorical blaming of one side for the conflict is not in accordance with the previous official announcements of the State Department. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken expressed concern about the conflict and called for calm, but did not place blame on either side.
Armenia said Azerbaijan attacked at least six Armenian settlements shortly after midnight on September 13, attacking civilian and military infrastructure with drones and large-caliber weapons. Yerevan claims that it was an unprovoked aggression.
Azerbaijan, which is backed by Turkey, rejected the claims. Baku alleges that Armenian sabotage units attempted to mine Azerbaijani positions, prompting soldiers to respond.
Russia, which has repeatedly criticized Pelosi for her visit to Taiwan, considers the Caucasus to be its sphere of influence and resents any form of American interference in the region.
Moscow, however, is preoccupied with the war in Ukraine, which has sparked the biggest conflict with the West since the height of the Cold War.
Russia is a major military ally of Armenia, and in the north of that country it has a military base for peacekeeping forces along the contact line in Nagorno-Karabakh.
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