U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi led a Congressional delegation to Armenia Saturday, after a bloody battle between Azerbaijan and Armenia left nearly 200 soldiers dead. On Sunday, Speaker Pelosi slammed the leaders of Azerbaijan for violating the terms of a 2020 peace agreement with Armenia. For decades, the two former Soviet countries have been engaged in a violent struggle for control of the Nagorno-Karabakh region. “It has been a rough 30 years for Armenia and Azerbaijan, no doubt, but last week started a new chapter in this conflict,” says long-time Middle East correspondent and CEO of News Deeply, Lara Setrakian. According to Speaker Pelosi, the Azer government carried out a “deadly and illegal” attack deep into Armenia territory last week. The U.S. has traditionally worked closely with France and Russia to maintain peace in the Middle East. However, the Kremlin’s attacks on Ukraine have strained all joint diplomacy efforts there. “They usually collaborated on this part of the world... but right now what we hear from diplomats in Yerevan is that the U.S. and Russia are really not on speaking terms, so it doesn't help the cause of peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan.”
