ArmInfo.Senior Biden administration officials were to arrive in Armenia on Monday, a U.S. official told Reuters, after ethnic Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh began a mass exodus on Sunday following Azerbaijan's defeat of the breakaway region's fighters in a conflict dating from the Soviet era. Reuters reports with reference to an American official.
"The visit by U.S. Agency for International Development chief Samantha Power and U.S. State Department Acting Assistant Secretary for Europe and Eurasian Affairs Yuri Kim would be the first by senior U.S. officials to Armenia since a ceasefire last week.
Power will meet with senior government officials and will "affirm U.S. support for Armenia's democracy, sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity and commitment to address humanitarian needs stemming from Nagorno- Karabakh," the official said.
Power will be the first USAID Administrator to go to Armenia, the official said, and will affirm the U.S. partnership with the country and "express deep concern for the ethnic Armenian population in Nagorno-Karabakh and to discuss measures to address the humanitarian crisis there."
On September 19, Azerbaijan, under the pretext of an "anti-terrorist operation," undertook another act of aggression against Artsakh. As a result of enemy aggression, hundreds of Artsakh residents were injured, more than 200 deaths were reported, including civilians, and more than 10,000 were evacuated.
On September 20, Artsakh fell. Azerbaijan began the forcible subjugation of the NKR. On September 20, late in the evening it became known that Azerbaijan had deliberately shot at the car of the Russian peacekeeping contingent, killing 5 people, including the deputy commander of the RPC. Today, there were reports that one soldier was killed and another was wounded as a result of shooting at another RPCvehicle. On September 21, a meeting between representatives of Baku and Stepanakert was held in Yevlakh. Azerbaijan demanded the disarmament of the Artsakh Defense Army, the surrender of all military personnel and the abolition of all government bodies.
On September 22, the process of abolishing the Artsakh Defense Army began. There are reports that the enemy side exterminated the population of the villages captured on September 19-20.
As of 6 a.m., 2,906 forcibly displaced Artsakh residents had already arrived in Armenia. The night before it also became known that Artsakh was connected to the energy system of Azerbaijan. Protests demanding the resignation of the RA Prime Minister continue in Yerevan and regions.