{"id":1149,"date":"2025-05-21T19:17:02","date_gmt":"2025-05-21T19:17:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/freearmenianhostages.net\/?p=1149"},"modified":"2025-05-21T19:18:16","modified_gmt":"2025-05-21T19:18:16","slug":"breaking-u-s-secretary-of-state-marco-rubio-says-u-s-is-working-to-prevent-azerbaijani-invasion-of-armenia-calls-armenian-prisoners-of-war-release-critical","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/freearmenianhostages.net\/?p=1149","title":{"rendered":"BREAKING: U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio Says U.S. Is Working to Prevent Azerbaijani Invasion of Armenia, Calls Armenian Prisoners of War Release \u201cCritical\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

During a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on May 21, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that preventing a renewed conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan\u2014specifically an Azerbaijani invasion of Armenia\u2014is a key foreign policy focus of the Trump-Vance Administration.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Rubio was questioned by Representatives Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Jim Costa (D-CA), who pressed him on Azerbaijan\u2019s ongoing aggression and its illegal detention of Armenian prisoners of war and political detainees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rubio emphasized that the United States has been focused on working toward establishing peace between the two nations. \u201cWith regard to Azerbaijan, our main focus has been to work towards establishing peace between Azerbaijan and Armenia,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s a real risk there of a conflict that we\u2019re trying to prevent from happening. Our teams have been very engaged in that regard in trying to make something come about and prevent an armed intervention there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added that human rights and prisoners remain central to the U.S. approach: \u201cThe release of Armenian prisoners is a critical component of our diplomatic efforts.\u201d Rubio also acknowledged the challenge of engaging with authoritarian regimes: \u201cWe have to deal with countries that in many cases do not have an ideal model,\u201d he said, adding that the U.S. must balance diplomacy with national interests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Congressman Jim Costa and Congressman Chris Smith<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Congressman Chris Smith directly condemned Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev\u2019s actions and demanded urgent U.S. intervention. \u201cAliyev is a dictator\u2026 release those prisoners. They\u2019re being horribly mistreated,\u201d Smith said. \u201cIt\u2019s very clear that after the genocide committed by Aliyev against the Armenians, there are many, many political prisoners and POWs being held. I would just encourage you to do whatever you can to get those men and women released.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Congressman Jim Costa also echoed calls for stronger U.S. engagement in holding Azerbaijan accountable and supporting Armenia\u2019s sovereignty and security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe thank Congressmen Smith and Costa for raising the urgent need for stronger U.S. leadership in holding Azerbaijan accountable for its aggression and ongoing abuse of Armenian hostages, and welcome Secretary Rubio\u2018s constructive response \u2014 in particular his assurance that the Trump-Vance Administration is committed to preventing an Azerbaijani invasion of Armenia and ensuring the release of Armenian prisoners,\u201d stated Aram Hamparian, Executive Director of the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zartonk Media<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

During a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on May 21, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that preventing a renewed conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan\u2014specifically an Azerbaijani invasion of Armenia\u2014is a key foreign policy focus of the Trump-Vance Administration. Rubio was questioned by Representatives Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Jim Costa (D-CA), who pressed him […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1151,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,12,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1149","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-advocacy","category-english","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/freearmenianhostages.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1149","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/freearmenianhostages.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/freearmenianhostages.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freearmenianhostages.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freearmenianhostages.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1149"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/freearmenianhostages.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1149\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1154,"href":"https:\/\/freearmenianhostages.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1149\/revisions\/1154"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freearmenianhostages.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1151"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/freearmenianhostages.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1149"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freearmenianhostages.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1149"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freearmenianhostages.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1149"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}