Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct.25
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
Section 907 of the United States Freedom Support Act, banning any kind of direct United States aid to the Azerbaijani government, is a statute adopted by Congress, US President Donald Trump’s National Security Advisor John Bolton said in an interview with The Voice of America.
“Well, you know, this is a statute adopted by Congress. It’s not necessarily entirely the policy of the executive branch. And under our constitution it’s really the president who sets foreign policy,” he said.
“On a number of occasions different presidents have waived that provision in order to make sales, and it’s something that we look at constantly to decide what’s appropriate,” added Bolton.
He pointed out that the South Caucasus is a critically important region strategically for the United States.
Bolton also spoke about the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
“Obviously the US is one of the co-chairs of the Minsk Group. We take this responsibility very seriously. We think that getting a solution that’s satisfactory to both parties is especially important, given the strategic significance of this region,” he said.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.
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