ArmInfo. The Armenian National Committee of America commented on the statement made by US National Security Advisor to the President John Bolton on Artsakh. Thus, according to the statement of the structure received by ArmInfo, the ANCA will oppose any/all reckless "Madrid" style deals that call on Artsakh to make up-front and irrevocable strategic and territorial concessions in return for vague, deferred and reversible, promises from Azerbaijan about Artsakh's possible future status.
Parallel to this stand, we will continue to demand accountability for Azerbaijan's aggression, and back continued U.S. funding for vitally needed humanitarian and developmental programs in Artsakh, underlined in the ANCA statement.
In a seeming shift away from the generally higher priority that the Clinton, Bush, and Obama administrations placed upon resolving Artsakh as a means of reducing Russian influence in the region, Bolton, at least publicly, highlighted the benefits of an Artsakh settlement to U.S. efforts to isolate Iran. We can expect a diplomatic U.S. push on the Artsakh issue, foreshadowed, perhaps, by outgoing Ambassador Richard Mills' reckless call for the up-front surrender of Artsakh's territory, the ANCA press service informs.
To note, Bolton expressed openness to U.S. arms sales to Armenia, which - almost certainly - would happen in the context of such sales to Azerbaijan. The danger here is that Azerbaijan, given the size of its military budget, can afford significantly more advanced U.S. arms than Armenia - leading to imbalances both on the battlefield and in terms of political relationships.
The ANCA will continue to press for strict enforcement of Section 907 of the Freedom Support Act, which - as a matter of law, currently waived by the Administration - restricts certain forms of direct U.S. assistance, including offensive military hardware, to the Azerbaijani government. In light of Baku's escalating aggression, the ANCA calls upon the White House to discontinue its Section 907 waivers and urges Congress to roll back its waiver authority for this law. Parallel to Section 907 enforcement issues, the ANCA is carefully tracking potential arms export control violations related to Azerbaijan, including the third-party sourcing of sensitive U.S. equipment, software, and services for drones and other weapons systems.