Congresswoman Barbara Lee (CA Province), ranking Democrat on the House Appropriations Subcommittee, is urging her congressional colleagues to call on the Biden administration to end U.S. military aid to the Baku authorities in light of Aliyev’s brutal six-month blockade of Artsakh and a population of 120,000 indigenous Armenian Christians.

Congressman Lee’s letter to Secretary of State Anthony Blinken comes as Armenian foreign ministers and the Baku government plan to hold another round of talks in Washington next week. The letter stresses that “the long-term blockade of Artsakh by the Baku authorities and the continued occupation of sovereign Armenian territory not only threaten to jeopardize meaningless efforts to resolve the conflict, but also seriously endanger the security and well-being of the Armenian population of Artsakh.

Congressman Lee’s letter states, “In the context of this ongoing blockade and President Aliyev’s continued threats, the extension of the President’s waiver of Article 907 of the Support for Freedom Act will send a dangerous message to the Azerbaijani government that there will be no consequences to coercing Artsakh Armenians through intimidation, starvation and lethal force.” Against its will