Too often the South Caucasus has suffered from dictators with imperialistic aspirations, Bob Menendez, head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said at a hearing on the South Caucasus.

In 2020, 100,000 Armenians were displaced from their homes in Nagorno-Karabakh as a result of Azerbaijan's war, 6,500 were killed. Today, Armenians in Artsakh still face a humanitarian crisis, including the threat of ethnic cleansing, he said.

Menendez added that because of this he insists on more humanitarian aid, because the U.S. aid has been insufficient.

“How on earth can we justify sending any support, security or otherwise, to the regime in Baku?” Menendez asked.

He also touched on Section 907 of the Freedom Act, recalling that it prohibits security assistance to Azerbaijan until the latter renounces the use of force against Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh.

And yet, again and again, the State Department makes an exception for Azerbaijan, he added.

It has requested $600,000 for military training for Azerbaijan, a program that includes professional military training.

Menendez said he is categorically against any kind of assistance to a country that has committed war crimes and aggression against a neighboring state.

The State Department has authorized security assistance to Baku just months before Azerbaijan invaded Armenia in September, months before the video of the Azerbaijanis killing unarmed Armenian soldiers, months before the Azerbaijanis sexually assaulted and killed an Armenian servicewoman, he said.

It makes no sense to say that U.S. military assistance has not affected the military balance between Azerbaijan and Armenia, the chairman added.

Menendez expressed home to hear what more they can do for peace in the Caucasus and especially after the attacks on Armenia.

He is skeptical that Azerbaijan, Turkey or Russia will allow Armenia and the Armenian people to determine their own fate. According to him, it must be guaranteed that a peace agreement will not lead to ethnic cleansing in Nagorno-Karabakh.

That means solving the humanitarian crisis, holding the perpetrators of violence in the region accountable, said the senator.