US Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, on Tuesday delivered remarks on the Senate Floor on the Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) conflict.

The Senator addressed the implications for regional stability following a Moscow-brokered agreement, as well as the need for President-elect Biden to reassert American leadership following the Trump administration’s failure to defend ethnic Armenians and promote American values.

Also, Senator Menendez called on the US to provide $250 million in humanitarian assistance to Armenia and Artsakh, to be actively involved in the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing talks on the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and to react to the military aggression by Turkey and Azerbaijan.

 The senator stressed that the Armenians affected by the violent conflict provoked by Azerbaijan’s Aliyev and Turkey’s Erdogan will now live in security provided by Russian peacekeepers, whereas the agreement on the deployment of peacekeepers does not address the jihadists sent by Turkey and who also have committed crimes against Christian Armenians, or the status of Artsakh, or provide guarantees that Azerbaijan will refrain from such further steps.

Menendez stressed that due to the agreement reached, a number of Christian shrines will remain under Azerbaijani control.