A senior State Department official visited Armenia’s Gegharkunik Province, the site of some of the most intense fighting when Azerbaijan launched a large-scale offensive last month invading Armenia’s sovereign territory.
According to a press statement from the U.S. Embassy in Armenia issued on Monday, the director of the State Department’s Office of Caucasus Affairs Mark Cameron toured Gegharkunik to gain a first-hand perspective on the situation on the border.
Cameron visited Vardenis and Sotk, where he met with commander of the headquarters of the Armenian Armed Forces and observe the situation on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border.
“During his visit, he underscored the continued U.S. support for Armenia’s sovereignty, and lasting peace in the South Caucasus,” the Embassy said in its statement.
Since the September attacks, the United States has taken a keen interest in Armenian, with several high-level officials blaming Azerbaijan for the attack and calling on Baku to withdraw its forces from Armenia.
The State Department, late last month, urged Azerbaijan to pull back its forces to their original positions.
Furthermore, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, during meetings and telephone conversation with Armenia’s leaders has voiced the U.S.’s support for peace and stability in the region and has attempted to mediate talks between Armenian and Azerbaijani officials, most notably hosting the foreign ministers of the two countries in New York last month.
Leaders of two Congressional Delegations visiting Armenia also condemned Azerbaijan for its incursion into Armenia’s sovereign territory and called on Baku to immediately withdraw its troops.
Most notably, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, who led a delegation to Armenia in September, blamed Azerbaijan and urged the immediate withdrawal of its troops form Armenia’s territory.
