Washington is stepping up its efforts to solve the looming humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh as tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan simmer.
US officials have been working around the clock to find a sustainable solution to a blockade imposed by Azerbaijan against some 120,000 residents in the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave.
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Officials from the Biden administration have repeatedly voiced their concern about the deteriorating humanitarian conditions inside Nagorno-Karabakh, comprising an Armenian population that broke off from Azerbaijan decades ago. The region is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan.
However, the Lachin Corridor, a land link between Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia used for transporting medicine, food and other necessities, has been blocked by Baku.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) last month urged Azerbaijan to reopen the Lachin Corridor and “uphold its international obligations to respect and protect human rights, including the right to food, health, education and life.”
Despite Washington’s call for immediate reopening of the corridor, the impasse continues, with Baku insisting on other routes from Azerbaijan to transport goods into the region to unblock the Lachin Corridor.
Traditionally, residents of Nagorno-Karabakh are opposed to assistance from other routes, a senior State Department official said. US officials clarified that they were not getting involved in the kind of deal the two sides might arrive upon or its modalities.
“We are doing everything we can to try to facilitate any kind of a deal because our goal is to get humanization assistance in,” the senior State Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told reporters.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his team have been personally engaged in the deliberations as they look for a breakthrough.
Senior Adviser for Caucasus Negotiations Lou Bono is in constant discussions with all sides to try and resolve the humanitarian situation and this long-standing conflict, the State Department said. Deputy Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs Joshua Huck has also been heavily involved in the mediation.
Senate Foreign Relations Committee chair Bob Menendez has said the Biden administration should sanction Azerbaijan for human rights abuses.
This week, he slammed the Aliyev government again. “The Aliyev government in Azerbaijan is carrying out a campaign of heinous atrocities. Now is the time to step up and protect this vulnerable population,” Menendez said during remarks on the Senate Floor.
The State Department officials remained tightlipped when asked if they had threatened Baku with sanctions over its refusal to reopen the Lachin Corridor.
State Department officials rejected that the US risked normalizing Azerbaijan’s use of starvation as a negotiation tool. “I think the Azerbaijanis would say there’s no forced famine whatsoever; they would say, ‘Look, trucks are sitting right outside of Nagorno-Karabakh ready to provide food.’”
They also said there were no confirmed cases of starvation in Nagorno-Karabakh despite former International Criminal Court (ICC) chief Luis Moreno Ocampo describing the situation as there being “reasonable basis” to believe that genocide was being committed against Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh.
In a sign of a potential easing of tensions, a Russian Red Cross truck delivered aid to Stepanakert on Tuesday, making it the first time in 35 years that aid from Azerbaijan was allowed in.
US officials believe there is an opportunity for Armenia and Azerbaijan to settle their dispute and normalize ties but acknowledge the obstacles to a settlement.
“But it’s bigger than that; this is something that can stabilize the region and normalize relations in the region,” a second senior State Department official said. “We are all in on this. This is a priority for the administration and Secretary [Blinken].”
The first State Department official pointed to the potential economic benefits of the region for the US and the European Union and to break the cycle of instability. “This is not just us wishing it; both sides want it, and we’re hearing this from the actual governments involved.”
According to US officials, three rounds of talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan have taken place in Washington, and both sides are prepared to return for further discussions.