President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan said in an interview last week that the United States is covertly providing military assistance to Armenia, urging Washington to immediately halt such aid.
In a threat-filled interview last week with the Russian Rossiya Segondya agency, Aliyev claimed that the Armenian military is receiving “lethal weapons” from not only France and India, but also the United States.
“The U.S. does not acknowledge it,” Aliyev told the state-run Russian broadcaster. “However, we have tracked military transport planes landing at Armenian airports, delivering weapons there.” He did not provide any proof of the claim or specify the types of U.S. military equipment he said was provided to Armenia.
Responding to an inquiry from Azatutyun.am, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said that U.S. military assistance to Armenia and Azerbaijan cannot be used for “offensive purposes.”
“The United States calibrates all its security assistance to Armenia and Azerbaijan to ensure that it is not usable for offensive purposes and does not undermine or hamper ongoing efforts to negotiate a durable and dignified peace,” Miller said on Tuesday, commenting on Aliyev’s allegations.
“U.S. security assistance to both Armenia and Azerbaijan is focused on strengthening interoperability with U.S. and NATO forces, increasing military professionalization, and securing their borders with Iran,” the State Department spokesperson added.
After a meeting with Defense Minister Suren Papikyan earlier this month in Washington, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said that the two discussed “our growing strategic partnership through training and exercises, military education, and capacity-building.”
In the interview last week, Aliyev warned France and the European Union for what he called their pro-Armenian position, accusing them of derailing regional security. He also demanded that all arms sales to Armenia be halted.
“We have repeatedly told Armenia and its sponsors in the U.S. State Department that the armament must stop,” Aliyev said.
