Blinken announces humanitarian aid to Armenia

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced on Tuesday that President Biden’s proposed $106 billion supplemental assistance package would include humanitarian assistance to Armenia, which is struggling to assist the 120,000 indigenous Armenians forcibly displaced from Artsakh as a result of Azerbaijan’s genocidal ethnic cleansing, the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) reported.

In remarks before the Senate Appropriations Committee on the Fiscal Year 2024 National Security Supplemental, Blinken announced that the proposed measure will “enable us to tackle grave humanitarian needs created by autocrats and terrorists, as well as by conflict and natural disasters in Ukraine, Gaza, Sudan, Armenia, and other places around the world.” 

Later in response to a question by Senator Chris Coons (D-DE), Secretary Blinken noted that humanitarian assistance would be provided to Nagorno Karabakh, among other places. The assistance package does not specify a monetary figure for assistance to Armenia.

BREAKING: Under intense Congressional, community & coalition pressure, @SecBlinken announces humanitarian aid to Armenia as part of Biden's $106 billion budget request.

ANCA demands robust funding commensurate with the acute needs of Armenians ethnically cleansed by Azerbaijan. pic.twitter.com/9ZW1BnCWyU

— ANCA (@ANCA_DC) October 31, 2023