“We regret the loss of life as a result of yesterday’s, I should say, downing of a helicopter along the line of contact. We extend our condolences to the families of those killed or injured.”

United States Department of State Spokesperson Jen Psaki noted the aforesaid at a press briefing, but she did not admit that it was Azerbaijan which had violated the ceasefire.    

To the question, “Azerbaijan says that it shot down an Armenian helicopter that it claims had attacked Azeri position. Are you aware of this report? Does that concern you? Have you had any communication with either or both of those governments?”, Psaki responded: “We are aware of the report and we regret the loss of life as a result of yesterday’s, I should say, downing of a helicopter along the line of contact. We extend our condolences to the families of those killed or injured. These events – this event is yet another reminder of the need to redouble efforts on peaceful resolution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, including reducing tension and respecting the ceasefire. In terms of – we obviously are engaged, certainly, with both countries and, as you know, have a diplomatic presence in both, but I don’t have any updates on whether we’ve been engaged over this specific incident.”

In response to the query, “So anything that the Obama Administration thinks that it can do to help push that in the direction you’d like to see it go?”, the US State Department spokesperson stated: “Well, as a co-chair of the Minsk Group, we certainly remain committed to helping both sides. Obviously, we are engaged through diplomatic channels with both sides about our belief that they need to redouble efforts to get back to a peaceful negotiation. And naturally, retaliation, further violence, escalating tensions certainly does not help that effort, but we will continue to work through our contacts on the ground to see if we can move closer to a resolution.”

To the question, “Do you acknowledge that it was Azerbaijan which violated the ceasefire yesterday, and also violated one of the main principles of peaceful settlement of the conflict, which is no use of force?”, she responded: “I don’t have any analysis of the exact events on the ground. We’ve seen the same reports. There are obviously comments and claims from both sides, but I don’t have any analysis beyond that.”

And to the journalist’s remarks that, “Azerbaijan shooting an Armenian vessel, then it’s pretty clear which party is violating the ceasefire,” Jen Psaki responded: “We understand there are views by both sides, but I don’t have any comment from the U.S. Government on it,” and added:  “If we have an update, you can – we can keep having this dialogue.”  

The Azerbaijani armed forces violated the ceasefire and shot down a Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) Air Force helicopter on Wednesday. The chopper was downed during a training flight, and nearby the eastern sector of the Karabakh-Azerbaijan Line of Contact. As a result, three pilots are believed to have been killed: The commander of the helicopter, Major Sergey Sahakyan, and Senior Lieutenant Sargis Nazaryan and Lieutenant Azat Sahakyan. Information was disseminated some time thereafter, however, that a member of the helicopter crew may still be alive The adversary, on the other hand, continues to intensively fire shots toward the crash site.   

The OSCE Minsk Group, Armenia MFA, European Union, and United Nations representatives already have condemned this incident.    

In addition, NKR has petitioned to the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC), with a request to help determine the fate of the three crew members of this helicopter.