US Congress members call on Biden Administration to take immediate measures to prevent Azerbaijani invasion of Armenia

Congressional Armenian Caucus Co-Chair Frank Pallone (D-NJ), Representatives Jim Costa (D-CA), and Brad Sherman (D-CA) were joined by a bipartisan group of U.S. House lawmakers in calling on the Biden Administration to take immediate measures to prevent an Azerbaijani invasion of Armenia, the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) reported.

“The opportunity to prevent further aggression by Azerbaijani forces and an all-out war in the South Caucasus is running out. Signals from Aliyev indicate that his campaign of ethnic cleansing will not cease with his military attacks on Artsakh.

The United States must take the strongest, concrete actions possible to deter Azerbaijani
aggression including:

• Use the Global Magnitsky Act and other statutory authorities to sanction President Aliyev and other Azerbaijani officials for their role in the military attack on and dissolution of Artsakh and associated atrocities and human rights violations.
• End all U.S. military assistance to Azerbaijan by enforcing Section 907 of the FREEDOM Support Act.
• Provide strong security assistance to Armenia, who cannot count on Russia or its other neighbors to maintain peace and stability in the region.
• Create an international monitoring and peacekeeping force in Armenia to prevent the invasion. The Russian peacekeeping force is an arm of Putin’s foreign policy.
  We cannot achieve peace without setting minimum conditions for Armenia’s protection. Any final peace settlement must include security protections for Armenia’s territorial integrity, the delineation of sovereign territory based on specific Soviet military maps from 1975-76, and assurances that transportation links, including those along the Southern corridor, remain part of Armenia’s sovereign territory and under Armenian administration.
  The United States must continue providing additional humanitarian assistance to Armenia to aid refugees who fled to Armenia from Artsakh, in coordination with the European Union, and other reputable nongovernmental organizations on the ground, on humanitarian response efforts. We should also call for the unconditional release of and amnesty for captured Artsakh government officials and Armenian prisoners of war.
  The United States must demonstrate a willingness to support democracies that stand up to Putin.
  We urge you to continue demonstrating U.S. global leadership by taking strong actions to deter threats to the free, sovereign, and democratic Republic of Armenia,” the US lawmakers said in a letter.