Trump Says He Aims to Help Armenia in Azerbaijan Conflict
Trump Says He Wants to Help Armenia in Conflict With Azerbaijan
(Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump said Friday his administration is working with Armenia in its conflict with Azerbaijan over the Nagorno-Karabakh territory, citing the size of the Armenian diaspora in the U.S.
“We’re working with Armenia. We have a very good relationship with Armenia -- they’re very good people, they’re so dedicated, they’re incredible people, and we’ll see what happens,” Trump said in the Oval Office. He declined to say if he’d spoken to leaders from either Armenia or Azerbaijan.
“We have a lot of people living in this country from Armenia, originally from Armenia, and they’re great people, and we’re going to help them,” the president added.
Trump didn’t mention Azerbaijan in his remarks.
Following Trump’s comments, the State Department said Secretary of State Michael Pompeo had urged the two nations’ foreign ministers to return to talks.
Russia is looking to broker an end to the worst violence in decades in the Nagorno-Karabakh region after a cease-fire earlier this month collapsed within hours. At the time, Armenian forces said 673 soldiers and 36 civilians had died since the fighting erupted Sept. 27. Azerbaijan hadn’t disclosed figures on military deaths and said at the time that 47 civilians had been killed.
Armenians took control of Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding districts of Azerbaijan in a 1990s war amid the collapse of the Soviet Union. Azerbaijan says it’s fighting to recover its internationally recognized territory, while Armenia says it’s defending Nagorno-Karabakh’s right to self-determination.
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