Former US ambassador to UN: “US policy with regards to Azerbaijan does need to be modified”

John Bolton, former US ambassador to the United Nations and a possible presidential candidate, called for the US government to provide more attention to Azerbaijan and, especially, its conflict with Armenia.

“Our policy with regards to Azerbaijan does need to be modified. Obviously, this is complicated by the conflict with Armenia, but besides that, precisely, given Azerbaijan’s access to Black Sea oil and natural gas assets, the importance of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline route, and the geographical location, I think this is the place where this frozen conflict needs more US attention”, Mr. Bolton told the House Foreign Affairs Committee answering the question of Congressman Michael McCaul (R-TX).

Mr. Bolton also mentioned that the US should be prepared to provide support and pay a significant attention to Azerbaijan, because Russia wants to return its influence in the region. “We know there are a lot of things going on in the world, but this is in the space of the former Soviet Union and what most important significance it does. I think we mustn’t forget what the Russian Prime-Minister Vladimir Putin said when he still was a president – that the collapse of the Soviet Union was one of the most geopolitical catastrophes in the XX century. Another thing is that it was a very good ending to the XX century, which is of course, not Mr. Putin’s opinion, but with all these conflicts and also with Russia’s attack on Georgia in 2008 we see that Russia wants to return its influence in the region, and therefore we must pay a significant attention to Azerbaijan”, Bolton said.

In his speech at the testimony, Mr. Bolton sharply criticized the Obama administration’s handling of the Middle East. Bolton focused on Iran and Syria, laying out steps the United States should take to prevent the two governments from acquiring nuclear weapons. He also had strong words for current US policy toward Israel.


/APA/