News - Politico: Blinken warns Congress members Azerbaijan may invade Armenia

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has warned a select group of lawmakers that Azerbaijan may be planning to invade Armenia in the coming weeks, Politico reports. Officials familiar with the discussions told Politico that Blinken raised the possibility of an invasion during a conference call on October 3. The call concerned questions from officials about the US response to Azerbaijan's September offensive in [Artsakh] Nagorno-Karabakh. During the conversation, Blinken reportedly told lawmakers that the State Department would not renew the current agreement that allows the US to offer military assistance to Azerbaijan. The agreement had been renewed every year since 2002, but it expired in June. In the same call, Blinken warned that Azerbaijan may invade southern Armenia. As Politico emphasizes, after the exodus of Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh as a result of Baku’s military aggression, Yerevan expressed fears that Azerbaijan may have plans for the sovereign territory of Armenia. Of particular concern is the southern region of Syunik, which Azerbaijan calls the Zangezur Corridor and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev calls “Western Azerbaijan.” Aliyev did not attend peace talks scheduled between Baku and Yerevan on October 5 in Spanish Granada. Aliyev later proposed Georgia as a host country for negotiations with Armenia. According to Politico, officials said that during the October 3 call, Blinken expressed hope that the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan could still be resolved through productive diplomatic negotiations.