US Senators Introduce Resolution Condemning Azerbaijani Aggression

US Senator and Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Bob Menendez today introduced a bipartisan resolution that condemns the illegal and unjustified attacks by Azerbaijani forces on Armenian territory and calls on the United States to immediately cease security assistance to Azerbaijan.

The bipartisan resolution, prompted by the recent escalation of military operations by Azerbaijani forces against Armenia, urges President Joe Biden to make an official determination on whether Azerbaijani officials should be subject to sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Act for Human Rights Accountability. It also calls on the State Department to fulfill all statutory reporting requirements to review assistance provided to Azerbaijan by the US government, following a recent report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) that indicated the administration continues to make exceptions that bypass a 1992 law restricting military assistance to Azerbaijan without the required legal accountability and justification.

“The renewed aggression by Azerbaijan against Armenian territory and the indiscriminate attacks on civilian infrastructure are a horrific manifestation of disrespect for human life,” said Menendez. “As communities in the region, including Kapan, Goris, Jermuk, Vardenis, and Jaghatsat, suffer at the hands of the Aliyev regime, the United States must align its words of support with the decisive actions of the Armenian people. With this resolution, we make it clear that it is a national security imperative for the US government to act properly and permanently cease security assistance to Azerbaijan.”

The resolution was introduced in collaboration with Senator Marco Rubio. It follows Menendez’s letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in which he urged the Biden administration to take additional steps to support the Armenian people in their efforts to repel Azerbaijan's renewed military aggression.

“As we witness Azerbaijan’s latest attack, the administration must not downplay this aggression to appear neutral. President Biden stated in his 2022 speech that ‘...when autocrats do not pay a price for their aggression, they cause even greater chaos,’” Menendez wrote. “The United States has an opportunity to support the Armenian people as they attempt to fend off this authoritarian assault.”