US House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce (R-CA) called on the US, Russian, and French mediators to press Azerbaijan to accept major safeguards against intensifying ceasefire violations in the Karabakh conflict zone while speaking at the 24th anniversary of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) independence celebration on Capitol Hill.
Rep. Ed Royce also said the US administration must not shy away from blaming Azerbaijan for deadly fighting along “the line of contact” around Karabakh.
During the “Freedom and Democracy of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic” event on Capitol Hill, House Intelligence Committee Ranking Member Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) expressed his concern with Azerbaijan’s aggressive and dangerous military provocations, as well as current U.S. policy.
“I also raised my dismay that the response from the United States has been to draw a false equivalence between Azeri and Armenian behavior,” Rep. Schiff said. “As we pursue a peaceful settlement, we cannot ignore the bellicose rhetoric and provocative military actions by Azerbaijan. Our silence only emboldens them.”