The Armenian ambassador to the United Kingdom (UK), Varuzhan Nersesyan, is urgently seeking clarification on UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy's comments on war with Azerbaijan, GB News reports.

Lammy has been slammed as “callous and ignorant” after writing in a recent blog post that Azerbaijan has been able to “liberate” territory in a conflict described as an ethnic cleansing. The Foreign Secretary’s view that the Nagorno-Karabakh region has been “liberated” stands in contrast to the official stance of the British Government.

Last September, a senior British ambassador slammed Azerbaijan’s use of force after violence restarted in its ethnic and territorial conflict with Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh region. Neil Holland said that Azerbaijan’s use of force is unacceptable and reaffirmed that Britain has urged a ceasefire in the long-running conflict.

Holland, the Head of the United Kingdom's Delegation to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), slammed Azerbaijan’s decision to commence a military operation in the region. Holland’s statements came after Azerbaijan launched a significant military offensive against Nagorno-Karabakh.

This was widely condemned as a violation of the ceasefire agreement penned after the 2020 ethnic conflict. The 2020 invasion saw several war crimes, including the beheadings of two elderly men who were murdered by Azerbaijani forces, captured in videos that were spread online.

The bloody conflict saw several ethnic Armenian civilians murdered by Azerbaijani forces. The beheadings were captured on mobile phone footage, revealing some of the worst events from a harrowing war.

Dozens of incidents of extrajudicial executions and the desecration of dead bodies were authenticated by NGOs operating in the region.

The Azerbaijani invasion has been described as an ethnic cleansing of Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians and a second Armenian genocide by a former chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court.

The UK Foreign Secretary’s aforesaid remark has sparked widespread diplomatic concerns in Yerevan, with Armenian officials engaging with the British Foreign Office for clarification.

The UK Foreign Office said in a statement: “The UK supports the territorial integrity of both Armenia and Azerbaijan and is encouraged by both sides to engage in meaningful dialogue. We will continue to support their commitment to lasting peace in the region."