Azerbaijan Rejects Washington Meeting with Armenia Following U.S. Senate's Blockade on Military Aid

Azerbaijan has declined an offered foreign ministerial meeting with Armenia, which was scheduled to occur on November 20 in Washington, D.C. The rejection follows remarks made by a State Department official emphasizing that relations with Azerbaijan will not return to normalcy until significant progress is made in the peace process between the two nations.

During a hearing on Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) in the House of Representative Foreign Affairs Committee on November 15, James O’Brien, assistant secretary at the department’s Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, highlighted the significance of progress on the peace track. He stated, "We’ve made clear that nothing will be normal with Azerbaijan after the events of September 19 until we see progress on the peace track. So we’ve canceled a number of high-level visits, condemned the actions… We don’t anticipate submitting a waiver on Section 907 until such time that we see a real improvement."

In response to O’Brien's remarks, the Azerbaijani foreign ministry rebuffed the State Department official's comments, labeling them as “biased, unproductive, groundless, and unacceptable”.

Moreover, the Azerbaijani foreign ministry expressed dissatisfaction with the U.S.'s approach, deeming high-level visits from the United States to Azerbaijan as inappropriate given the current circumstances. They also raised concerns about the unilateral approach taken by the U.S., indicating that it might lead to the country losing its role as a mediator in the conflict.

In a decisive move, Azerbaijan announced the cancellation of the meeting between the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia, citing the United States' approach as a determining factor. The Azerbaijani foreign ministry stated, "In these conditions, we don’t find it possible to hold the meeting of the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia on November 20 in Washington."

The rejection of the proposed meeting in Washington shows the escalating tensions and complex diplomatic challenges surrounding the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict. And of course, Azerbaijan’s ongoing occupation and Armenophobia towards all ethnic Armenians in the region and abroad.