USAID Administrator Samantha Power held a Press Conference in Armenia. Here is the full transcript of the event provided by USAID press office.
AMBASSADOR KRISTINA KVIEN: Hello, everyone. Good evening. Thank you very much for joining us today. We will be having a press conference with USAID Administrator Samantha Power, who arrived in Armenia today. I also wanted to note the presence of Acting Assistant Secretary Ambassador Yuri Kim from the U.S. State Department. She's from the State Department's Bureau of Europe and Eurasian Affairs, and she has joined Administrator Power on this trip. I think I'll just get right to it, and invite Administrator Power to the podium. Please join me in welcoming her with a round of applause.
ADMINISTRATOR SAMANTHA POWER: Thank you so much, Ambassador [Kvien], and thank you for your leadership of the incredible team of diplomats, and humanitarians, and other technical experts we have here in Armenia. It's wonderful to be back in Armenia, a country that has been very close to my heart for a very long time. Spending time with the Armenian people is something that always inspires me, there’s tremendous strength, dynamism, grit, and spirit among people in this great country.
I can only imagine how painful the events of the past week have been for the Armenian people. To see Armenian communities attacked, to be cut off from your families and loved ones in Nagorno-Karabakh. To not know their fate, to read of potentially dire shortages of food, medicine and fuel. I know this crisis is particularly painful given how the world has failed to protect Armenians in the past. This morning, I visited the Armenian Genocide Memorial and laid a wreath at the eternal flame. Not only to honor the memory of those killed and forced from their homes more than a century ago, but to remember our shared duty to stand up for one another's safety, dignity, and cultural heritage.
So today, Prime Minister [Nikol] Pashinyan and I discussed how the United States can support the Armenian people, both in the immediate term in Nagorno-Karabakh, and going forward as Armenia safeguards its sovereignty and territorial integrity, strengthens its democracy, and builds prosperity towards people.
First and foremost, we are calling on Azerbaijan to maintain the ceasefire and take concrete steps to protect the rights of civilians in Nagorno-Karabakh. President [Ilham] Aliyev has promised to guarantee the rights of ethnic Armenians. Azerbaijan must live up to that promise, and more than that, and critically, the world must be able to verify that Azerbaijan is living up to that promise. All parties should allow for an international humanitarian assessment, and a monitoring presence on the ground to track Azerbaijan's adherence to its commitments and provide real time reporting to the international community. And vitally, Azerbaijan must permanently and fully reopen the Lachin Corridor to passenger, commercial, and humanitarian traffic. The promises to protect the residents of Nagorno-Karabakh will remain hollow until civilians are allowed to leave and return at will. Until shipments of food, medicine, and supplies are able to reach communities. And until humanitarian actors, like USAID, are given the access we need to meet urgent humanitarian needs.
Since hostilities reignited in 2020, the United States has provided more than $24 million in humanitarian and development assistance in response to the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh – helping provide food, water and sanitation, medical care, child protection, psychosocial support, and emergency response. Tomorrow, I will announce additional humanitarian assistance. Already, we are providing essential supplies like household and hygiene kits, blankets, and clothing to support people who have left their homes in Nagorno-Karabakh and need help right now. We are at the ready to provide food, cash, legal support, shelter, and protection services to those in need of assistance. We are working closely with local authorities who are providing supplies, and local communities who have opened up their hearts and their homes to those fleeing the violence.
The people living in Nagorno-Karabakh deserve an end to violence, they deserve to live in safety, and they deserve to maintain their Armenian cultural connections and the ability to move back and forth as they choose. The United States will continue to engage with Azerbaijani and Armenian leadership at the highest levels in pursuit of a lasting peace. And as we look to the future, we will also continue our partnership with the people of Armenia to cement democratic gains and drive economic growth, so that the latest attacks do not undermine the remarkable progress that Armenia has made in recent years.
I want to commend Prime Minister Pashinyan and the Armenian people for the democratic reforms you have led since citizens rose up in 2018 and demanded change. You have taken on corruption, and opened up space for civil society and independent media to voice opposition and to hold leaders accountable. In fact, just last week, on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, Secretary of State Blinken and I hosted Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan at an event to spotlight progress of democratic reformers around the world, and to shine a spotlight on the reforms that have been undertaken here in Armenia.
We at USAID are deeply committed to supporting this progress. We are supporting the establishment of a specialized anti-corruption court and investigative agency. We are working with the Government of Armenia to identify and reduce the bureaucratic hurdles that Armenian citizens and businesses face when accessing government services. All told, the United States has provided $3.3 billion since 1992, to support the people of Armenia, and we are committed to deepening this partnership every day.
Armenia has made historic strides to assert its independence and sovereignty, to fight for democracy, to build economic opportunity for its communities, to safeguard its ability to live in dignity and peace – which is fundamental. As you Armenians continue this path of progress, even through the latest crisis, please know that you have a friend and a trusted partner in the United States.
Thank you.
MODERATOR: Now we'll take questions, Public Television.
QUESTION (via translation): Good evening. The aggression of Azerbaijan against NK and also the accumulation of the Azerbaijani armed forces around Armenia makes us believe that Azerbaijan may initiate an attack on the sovereign territory of Armenia as well. In recent days high ranking U.S. officials in their speeches mentioned that the United States has expressed its support to Armenia's sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity. Does this also assume some practical actions if Armenia is targeted by Azerbaijan. You also emphasized in your remarks the need for access for international community. What steps are taken to be able to have first hand experience about what's happening in NK and is it possible to revisit the assistance to Azerbaijan in the light of these developments?
ADMINISTRATOR POWER: Thank you, I think there were many questions in your question – understandably. Let me first share that I am in Armenia because President Biden asked me to travel here. This was not a pre-planned trip, this is a trip being taken because President Biden wanted me to come and deliver a message on his behalf, to the Prime Minister, which is that the United States supports Armenia's sovereignty, territorial integrity, and democracy. And I feel privileged to have had the chance to pass that message, along with Assistant Secretary Kim, directly to the Prime Minister just before coming here today.
Again, as the Administrator of USAID, my focus is on humanitarian needs right now. We know, after months in which the Lachin road was blocked, where Azerbaijan was blocking passage of food and fuel along that road to the people inside Nagorno-Karabakh, we know from reports that the situation was, even before last week's military action – we knew, and we're hearing reports – that the humanitarian circumstances were extremely difficult for civilians inside Nagorno-Karabakh.
So we are working with our partners on the ground, who are now in a position, we hope in a permanent way, to be able to move food and medicine to those vulnerable people. As I indicated, we are also working very closely with the Armenian authorities who are welcoming people who have left Nagorno-Karabakh, and many of those people who have arrived today, we understand, and these are secondhand reports, are elderly, some have very specific conditions, many have vulnerabilities of other kinds. The American people and USAID want to, again, help all those who are stepping up to meet the needs of those individuals. And we are here to get a firsthand sense of what more we can do.
With regard to assistance, the assistance that has been provided to Azerbaijan, as Assistant Secretary Kim made clear in her congressional hearing a couple of weeks ago, we are reviewing our assistance, and definitely in a volatile moment here. I want to take account of progress toward peace, and the extent to which, again, the commitments that have been made to the rights and dignity of individuals in Nagorno-Karabakh are being kept.
MODERATOR: Andrew Higgins, New York Times.
QUESTION: Hello, on September 14, Ambassador Kim, well Secretary now, said that we have made it absolutely clear that force is not acceptable in the Nagorno-Karabakh issue. A week later, Azerbaijan launched the military assaults. What would you do if he ignores more recent commitments to not abuse Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh? Because so far it seems as if the commitment, well, the idea that they wouldn't use force has passed with no real action from the United States?
ADMINISTRATOR POWER: Well, let me separate out the two parts of your question. First, we are focused in the very, very immediate term, on the welfare of civilians in Nagorno-Karabakh, and those who have fled. And certainly, again, as USAID, we are intently focused on the humanitarian welfare of civilians, who in some cases have not been able, in most cases, have not been able to leave, or have not been able to get access to the kinds of provisions that for years they were able to access. And so we are very focused on that vulnerability, and as I personally, and as others in the U.S. government are able to, engage civilians who are coming into Armenia, we're going to learn a lot more in a hurry about the severity of those conditions, and what those individuals have gone through – causing them to leave Nagorno-Karabakh.
Second, we have called for immediate, unimpeded, independent access to Nagorno-Karabakh, and that is a major priority right now, is to secure that access. I, again, talked in my own remarks about the importance of verification, but it goes beyond that. In any circumstance, where you have a military moving into civilian areas, particularly one where there is the kind of history that has existed here – that has transpired here, it’s absolutely essential that eyes and ears, of independent bodies, neutral arbiters, are there, both to deter, and to document and hold accountable. And we know this firsthand, as the United States. As a country, when we have found ourselves in conflict in other countries, no matter what the intentions may be, it is absolutely critical to have a free press there on the ground, or to have independent monitors who can cast a light on the actions of not only whole militaries, but individuals who comprise those militaries. We have learned a lot. And that information is absolutely critical to informing accountability.
So, that is where there is a lot of focus right now. You mentioned Assistant Secretary Kim's statement, that the use of military force was unacceptable – Secretary Blinken said the same thing as when military force was undertaken. And we're looking at what the appropriate response is. I already mentioned the review, as did Assistant Secretary Kim, the review of our security assistance and other forms of assistance. But I would not leap to any conclusions about American foreign policy or our reaction to the events that have just transpired.
And then again, with regard to the future, both in our diplomacy and our diplomacy regionally, or bilateral diplomacy with Armenia and with Azerbaijan, we are making, again, very, very clear, as we did in the U.N. Security Council sessions, so many member states of the United Nations support for Armenia's sovereignty, territorial integrity, and democracy. And I'm not going to preview what the consequences would be of violating those precepts, but it's absolutely imperative that the world stand together now and stress the inviolability of those principles.
QUESTION (via translation): Thank you. One clarification first. You said twice in your answers that you are reviewing assistance, do you mean assistance to Azerbaijan?
ADMINISTRATOR POWER: Let me say two things. First, we have in the context of the bilateral relationship with Armenia, we, USAID, have nearly tripled our assistance to Armenia over the last couple of years as a way of supporting economic opportunity, small businesses, and the democratic reform and institutional reforms that the government is trying to put in place. That is not just true of USAID. but more broadly, the partnership with the country of Armenia is expanding substantially reflective of deeper and deeper collaboration between our governments, which, of course, mirrors the deep people to people ties that exist, particularly, of course, with so many cherished Armenian Americans in the United States. We now have a stepped up partnership and a stepped up assistance relationship with the government and the people of Armenia, which I think is really noteworthy. And in some ways, because it has been gradually getting deeper and deeper, perhaps has gone – the extent of that increase, you know, has gone perhaps unnoticed or less commented upon, than it might have been.
What I said in the context of Azerbaijan is undoubtedly, you know, we are looking at the broad scope of responses to recent events. And above all, we are very eager to see the ceasefire hold, to ensure that people are able to leave Nagorno-Karabakh if that's what they are choosing to do. But those who stay have their rights, their dignity, their property, respected and protected. And so again, I don't have anything to preview in terms of, you know, which tools the United States might employ, but you know, in circumstances such as those we – there are a vast array of tools at our disposal, and there are very high level in Washington discussions underway about what the appropriate actions are. But I really do again, want to underscore the importance of meeting immediate needs, and particularly ensuring that a broad coalition of countries stress just how critical and how urgent it is to get independent eyes and ears on the ground into Nagorno-Karabakh.
QUESTION (via translation): We have heard a lot of calls from the U.S. about support for Armenia's sovereignty and independence. So you have some real practical measures to ensure security guarantees. We know that the regional partner of the United States is Turkey, NATO ally, and Turkey was supporting Azerbaijan during the 44 day war and now they are doing the ethnic cleansing together in Nagorno Karabakh. There are some expert assessments that in order to push Russia out of the region, Washington is ready to give up with the last Armenians – tragedy of Armenians can be the price for forcing Russia out of the region?
ADMINISTRATOR POWER: I think what I will say in response to that is, is that of course, we see that recent events, not only recent days, over the last week, not only in recent months over the course of the blockage of the Lachin Road, but over the course of of some number of years, we certainly understand why real questions are being raised about Russia's role as a peacekeeper. And again, those questions, again we very much understand why those questions will be raised. Our emphasis is on the U.S.-Armenian partnership and how to deepen that. And so you asked about specifics in terms of the manifestation of how that is going to get deepened in light of recent events. And, again, I'm not going to preview anything here, as this is – these deliberations are underway quite literally as we speak.
But in the conversation that Assistant Secretary Kim and I, and the Ambassador, had just now with the Prime Minister, we discussed a set of very tangible requests that the government has made. And at the highest levels in Washington, we are going through each of those requests to see, you know, which of those we can respond to in a timely way. Again, I'm not going to get into specifics but just to say, as partners do, we are in dialogue as needs evolve and as concerns mount along the lines of those that you have described, we are intensifying our dialogue, including again with Prime Minister Pashinyan.
MODERATOR: And the last question, RFE/RL.
QUESTION (via translation): You came to Armenia, and you brought humanitarian assistance. Parallelly, Aliyev and Erdogan are talking about Zangezour corridor voicing direct and indirect threats. And here in Armenia people are concerned that a real war might start and in that scenario you might be coming again with a different type of humanitarian assistance. You are here at the request of President Biden and you are with the delegation from the Department of State. What information do you have, what are the levers that the U.S. has, what instruments can be used to restrain Azerbaijan and prevent it from starting a new war?
ADMINISTRATOR POWER: Thank you. Well, I mentioned that I am here to travel to meet with those who have fled Nagorno-Karabakh and to hear about their experiences, to hear about the lives that they've left behind, to hear about their fears about the loved ones that they have left behind. We're extremely concerned, alarmed by reports of violence against civilians. And so again, a big part of my mission here and our visit here is to get as much information as we can, and again to rally support and convey the urgency of getting independent eyes and ears on the ground into Nagorno-Karabakh beyond the very small international presence that exists there at this time.
The other reason for my visit, and the primary reason, as I indicated, was to convey from President Biden directly to Prime Minister Pashinyan on the United States commitment to Armenia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. What I will also do is, of course, take back to Washington and take back to the President the concerns that I have heard from everyone that I've met so far here today in Armenia, about the prospects for further violence. And, you know, Secretary Blinken, and Jake Sullivan, and the entire Biden administration have invested an enormous amount in forging, seeking to forge a just and durable regional peace. Secretary Blinken has convened and chaired multiple trilateral meetings with the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia. European Union, Mr. Michel has done so with the leaders, a lot has been invested in a regional peace because we know that the people of this region have so much to gain from a regional peace.
So, understanding again, that in light of recent events, there's great skepticism that political talks can produce concrete outcomes, or there's great skepticism about trusting a political process, and I hear that, we hear that, and and we understand that. But when it comes to issues of access and connectivity, there is only one way to bring about the kind of stability that will unlock the economic potential, not only the people of Armenia, but the people of Azerbaijan as well. And that is to secure any such agreement on connectivity peacefully. And so that is our message. That is the message of all of our partners. It is certainly what the Armenian leadership here is pursuing. And, you know, again, President Aliyev of Azerbaijan is on record, in being – in supporting the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Armenia, just as the Prime Minister has been, and with that foundation, again, we're going to push, use our convening power to be as helpful as we can in facilitating that regional peace.
