Nancy Pelosi condemns attacks by Azerbaijan

Armenia, September 18

Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi on Sunday said the US deplores recent attacks by Azerbaijan and called for a negotiated solution to the countries’ conflict.

Pelosi’s visit to the Armenian capital, Yerevan, with a congressional delegation came just a few days after two days of shelling by both sides that killed over 200 troops. It was the largest outbreak of hostilities in more than two years.

The two ex-Soviet countries have been locked in a decades-old conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, which is part of Azerbaijan, but was long under the control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia since a separatist war there ended in 1994.

During a six-week war in 2020, Azerbaijan reclaimed broad swaths of Nagorno-Karabakh and adjacent territories held by Armenian forces. Over 6,700 people died. Armenia and Azerbaijan blamed each other for starting shelling attacks last week. — AP