News - 75 US lawmakers call on Biden to impose sanctions on Azerbaijan

Seventy-five members of the US Congress called on the presidential administration to impose sanctions on Azerbaijan, stop US military assistance to Baku, provide humanitarian assistance to the population forcibly displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh, and deploy international observers in the Lachin corridor. The initiators of the letter to US President Joe Biden were former House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Congresswoman Anna Eshoo. The authors of the letter, representing both parties, condemned the "unprovoked military offensive" on Nagorno-Karabakh and the " a cruel nine-month blockade" that left the local Armenian population "with no option but to flee." US lawmakers noted that despite all the warnings about genocide threatening the population of Nagorno-Karabakh, a “preventable humanitarian disaster is unfolding on our watch”. The lawmakers request to enforce Section 907 of the FREEDOM Support Act, a provision of current law that prohibits US military aid to Azerbaijan, and impose targeted sanctions on Azerbaijani officials under the Global Magnitsky Act to make clear to Azerbaijan that its aggression will not be tolerated. They also request provide robust humanitarian assistance to support Artsakh’s displaced population and rally the international community to do the same by leading the establishment of an international humanitarian relief operation. The congressmen also request to take all actions necessary to ensure the safe evacuation of Artsakh’s population to Armenia, including through the immediate deployment of observers to the Lachin Corridor, as well as direct engagement with Azerbaijani authorities to secure amnesty for Artsakh’s local leaders.