A UNITED States congressional delegation was meeting Armenia’s leaders today to express support in the wake of protests rocking the small Caucasus nation after Azerbaijan reclaimed control over disputed Nagorno-Karabakh.

The US embassy said the group would meet Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and a handful of other officials “to discuss US-Armenian relations and the impact of Azerbaijan’s recent military actions on the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh”.

The United States houses a large Armenian community that fervently supported Yerevan in its decades-long standoff with Baku over the ethnically Armenian enclave.

The visit came as Pashinyan tried to survive the latest wave of protests against his tumultuous rule.

Pashinyan led Armenia when Azerbaijan first seized back large swathes of Nagorno-Karabakh in a six-week war three years ago.

That defeat sparked violent demonstrations in Yerevan that saw protesters ransack Pashinyan’s office.

Armenia’s parliament planned to launch impeachment hearings against Pashinyan over this week’s military triumph by its arch-rival when it returned to session next month.

The US delegation was led by senator Gary Peters.

The Democrat from Michigan this month accused Azerbaijan of launching “unprovoked” attacks against its neighbour.

President Ilham Aliyev’s “regime is perpetrating a humanitarian disaster in Nagorno-Karabakh”, he said on social media yesterday. – AFP, September 23, 2023.