US Temporarily Suspends Arms Supply Ban to Azerbaijan

The United States has temporarily suspended the ban on supplying weapons to Azerbaijan. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has extended the suspension of the 907th provision of the Freedom Support Act, which allows for direct US assistance to Azerbaijan. This was reported to PanARMENIAN.Net by the US State Department on April 29.

The 907th provision of the Freedom Support Act was adopted by the US Congress in 1992 due to Azerbaijan's blockade of Armenia, allowing only humanitarian assistance to Azerbaijan. According to this provision, the US government is prohibited from providing assistance to official Azerbaijani institutions until the country has taken “clear steps to eliminate all forms of blockades and the use of force against the Republic of Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh.” However, in 2002, Congress amended the 907th section, allowing the president to suspend the act and provide military assistance to Azerbaijan, which the US president does every year.

On April 28, Blinken informed Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in a phone conversation that the 907th provision has been suspended this year as well. Aliyev expressed his gratitude in this regard. “The US values its strategic partnership with Azerbaijan. Since 1992, the US has provided more than $1.5 billion in aid to Azerbaijan, including $6 million for COVID-19 response and almost $10 million in bilateral assistance in 2020,” stated the US State Department's press secretary.

Current US President Joe Biden, while still a presidential candidate, stated at the end of October 2020 that “the people living in Nagorno-Karabakh, who have already suffered greatly and need help ensuring their security, face a looming humanitarian disaster.” Biden then said that the then President Donald Trump should “fully comply and not waive the requirements of the 907th provision of the Freedom Support Act to suspend the flow of military equipment to Azerbaijan.”