U.S. Senators Sheldon Whitehouse and Ed Markey expressed strong support for Armenia at the COP29 climate summit in Baku, Azerbaijan. The senators emphasized their commitment to addressing the challenges facing Armenians, particularly concerning political prisoners and the right of return.
Their remarks were in response to a question from a Baku TV reporter, who asked why the United States has not imposed sanctions on Armenia.
Senator Whitehouse responded, “Senator Markey and I support Armenia, both of us. We are very regretful that the dislocation of so many Armenians has taken place. To put it mildly, I’m far from convinced that Armenians are to blame for that. And I don’t want to dwell in the home of my hosts on human rights issues. But if that were to be the topic, I would not be very complimentary.”
Senator Markey continued, “We believe that the political prisoners should be released. We believe there should be a right of return of Armenians to Nagorno-Karabakh. And we believe that there should be a peace treaty between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Our hope is that it’s negotiated soon so that these issues can be resolved, including the issue of a capacity to have a road that can be traversed through Armenia by Azerbaijan. But it all has to be part of a negotiated treaty. My hope is that that will be the case. But as Sheldon (Whitehouse) said, you know, we ultimately need to make sure that those prisoners are released and that there is a right to return peacefully by Armenian people to Nagorno-Karabakh.”
