The United States and France both condemned Tuesday’s large-scale military attack on Artsakh by Azerbaijan, urging Baku to immediately halt these actions.
President Emmanuel Macron of France told Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Tuesday that France will initiate the convening of a special United Nations Security Council session following Azerbaijan’s attack on Artsakh.
Macron conveyed this effort during a telephone conversation with Pashinyan, during which both leaders condemned the use of force and the need for international mechanisms to de-escalate the situation.
The UN Security Council convened a special session last month to discuss the urgent humanitarian crisis in Artsakh as a result of Azerbaijan’s blockade of the Lachin Corridor. While most country representatives urged Azerbaijan to lift the blockade and conform to an order by the International Court of Justice to ensure “unimpeded” access to the road, no concrete steps were taken by the world body at the time.
Pashinyan’s office also reported that he had a similar conversation with Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday.
“Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken spoke with Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan today about Azerbaijan’s military actions in Nagorno-Karabakh. The Secretary expressed the United States’ deep concern for the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh and underscored that the United States is calling on Azerbaijan to immediately cease hostilities and return to dialogue immediately. He told Prime Minister Pashinyan the United States fully supports Armenia’s sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement on Tuesday.
“The United States is deeply concerned by Azerbaijan’s military actions in Nagorno-Karabakh and calls on Azerbaijan to cease these actions immediately. These actions are worsening an already dire humanitarian situation in Nagorno-Karabakh and undermine prospects for peace. As we have previously made clear to Azerbaijan, the use of force to resolve disputes is unacceptable and runs counter to efforts to create conditions for a just and dignified peace in the region. We call for an immediate end to hostilities and for respectful dialogue between Baku and representatives of the population of Nagorno-Karabakh,” Blinken later said in a statement issued by the State Department.
Miller, the State Department spokesperson, said Blinken discussed the situation with President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan during a telephone call on Tuesday.
“Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken spoke with Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev today to urge Azerbaijan to cease military actions in Nagorno-Karabakh immediately and deescalate the situation. The Secretary emphasized that there is no military solution and that the parties must resume dialogue to resolve outstanding differences between Baku and ethnic Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh. The Secretary noted President Aliyev’s expressed readiness to halt military actions and for representatives of Azerbaijan and the population of Nagorno-Karabakh to meet, and he underscored the need for immediate implementation,” said Miller.
Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan, who is in New York to attend the UN General Assembly, briefed the U.S. Under Secretary for European Affairs Yuri Kim on the latest Azerbaijani attack on Artsakh.
“During meeting at #UNGA78 with US acting Assistant Secretary of State Yuri Kim, I presented Azerbaijan’s large-scale aggression against people of Nagorno Karabakh. Stressed imperative to undertake concrete & unequivocal steps to prevent Azerbaijani aggression & ethnic cleansing in Nagorno-Karabakh,” Mirzoyan said on X.
Kim has come under criticism recently for her statements advancing Baku’s position to open another route to Artsakh before it lifts the blockade of the Lachin Corridor and for the U.S.’s general inaction in the face of warning of a genocide in Artsakh.
France’s foreign ministry condemned “in the strongest terms,” Azerbaijan’s latest attack on Artsakh.
“No pretext can justify such unilateral action, which threatens thousands of civilians already affected by months of illegal blockade and goes against the efforts of the international community to reach a negotiated settlement,” the French Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.
“France calls on Azerbaijan to immediately cease its offensive and return to respect for international law, noting that it will hold Azerbaijan solely responsible for the fate of the civilian population of Nagorno-Karabakh,” added the statement.
“France requests the emergency convening of a meeting of the United Nations Security Council. It is working closely with its European and American partners so that a strong response is provided to this unacceptable offensive, commensurate with the risks it poses to the security of the region,” the French foreign ministry said.
