Sanctions Needed Against Senior Azerbaijani Officials, Says U.S. Senate Committee

Sanctions should be imposed on senior Azerbaijani officials as Washington pressures Baku regarding the opening of the Lachin corridor, according to the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.

“After 150 days of the blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh by Baku, it is clear that Aliyev is creating a humanitarian crisis and cutting off electricity to critical infrastructure. Sanctions against senior Azerbaijani officials must be on the table as we apply pressure to open the Lachin corridor,” the committee stated in a post on its Twitter account.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee attached a message noting that Nagorno-Karabakh has been under blockade for 5 months, gas and electricity cut-offs continue, and the resources of the region's largest reservoir are being depleted, threatening to leave the area without a hydroelectric power station.