WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) spoke on Wednesday at a U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on U.S. policy in the Caucasus with Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Karen Donfried.

Murphy asked about the Turkey-Armenia relationship and the role the United States should play: I wanted to ask a broad question about Turkey’s role in the region. Obviously, we know their historic role backing Azerbaijan. There doesn’t appear to be evidence that they explicitly supported Azerbaijan’s latest provocations. But they have also begun an interesting dialogue with Armenia that could ultimately be very important with Russia's preoccupation in Ukraine. Turkey obviously has a vacuum that they can fill. They’ve been more active than ever since 2020. Talk a little bit if you would, Secretary Donfried, about Turkey’s role in the region, and specifically on this question of Turkey-Armenia normalization.”

Murphy highlighted the potential role Azerbaijan could play in reducing Europe’s reliance on Russian energy: “I have often thought that we have gotten the balance wrong when it comes to promoting human rights and democracy in countries that have large oil reservoirs. But this is a country that now has more pipeline capacity than it did ten or twenty years ago. What’s the future of Azerbaijani energy with respect to diversifying away from Russian energy in and around the region? And how does this factor into the decisions that we make about how to approach some of these thornier issues of Azerbaijani conduct in the region?

Murphy urged the State Department to stay engaged in ongoing discussions between Serbia and Kosovo: “We’ve got some real potential bumps in the road coming up with the implementation of the license plate agreement in Kosovo. Again, I would just urge the Department to play as active a role as possible in the continued discussions between Serbia and Kosovo. We have for a long time, for good reason, have relied on the Europeans to take the lead, the Germans specifically. I think that there is more reason now than ever for the United States to step in.”

In September, Murphy released a statement on reports of hostilities along the Armenia-Azerbaijan border. In April, Murphy participated in a bipartisan congressional delegation with U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) to the Balkans to convey continued U.S. support for its allies amid Russian aggression against Ukraine and the implications for European security in the region.

You can read Murphy’s full exchange with Donfried:

MURPHY: “Thank you very much Mr. Chairman. Good to see you both. I wanted to ask a broad question about Turkey’s role in the region. Obviously, we know their historic role backing Azerbaijan. There doesn’t appear to be evidence that they explicitly supported Azerbaijan’s latest provocations. But they have also begun an interesting dialogue with Armenia that could ultimately be very important with Russia's preoccupation in Ukraine. Turkey obviously has a vacuum that they can fill. They’ve been more active than ever since 2020.

“Talk a little bit if you would, Secretary Donfried, about Turkey’s role in the region, and specifically on this question of Turkey-Armenia normalization. What’s the role the United States can play to facilitate that? Are we best to just sit back and watch? Is there some kind of active role that we can play?

DONFRIED: “Well, thanks a lot for that question, Senator Murphy. And you’re right to have us think about the other actors in the region, and Turkey is a critical one. You’re right to remark on the close relationship between Turkey and Azerbaijan, but I also appreciate your focus on Turkey-Armenia relations.

“We very much support normalization between Armenia and Turkey. And we have spoken at length with the Turks about this, and I do believe there is a deep Turkish commitment to move forward on this, which also augurs well for broader peace in the region.

“And what we’ve seen is both Turkey and Armenia have appointed special envoys for normalization and they’ve met multiple times, they have agreed on initial confidence building measures. We are encouraging both sides to move forward on those. They need to implement the measures that they’ve agreed to. So our role here is one of encouraging that, and we are hopeful that we will see progress. Because I do think it is part of the puzzle of the south Caucasus about how you get to a sustainable peace in the region.

MURPHY: “Let me just ask a question, I’m sorry if it’s been covered already. Obviously, the backdrop to our relationship with Azerbaijan is their increasing role as a supplier of energy to neighbors and into Europe. I have often thought that we have gotten the balance wrong when it comes to promoting human rights and democracy in countries that have large oil reservoirs. But this is a country that now has more pipeline capacity than it did ten or twenty years ago.

“What’s the future of Azerbaijani energy with respect to diversifying away from Russian energy in and around the region? And how does this factor into the decisions that we make about how to approach some of these thornier issues of Azerbaijani conduct in the region?

DONFRIED: “So, the energy picture in Europe, as we’ve all seen over the past eight and a half months has changed fundamentally. The United States for a long time has been arguing that Russia is not a reliable supplier of energy for Europe.

“Not all of our European allies and partners agreed with that assessment prior to February 24. I would say all of them today agree with that assessment. We have long been a voice promoting energy diversification and we’re seeing all of these countries that were overly dependent on Russia looking for other sources. And in that context, Azerbaijan is playing a very important role, and I think will continue to play a very important role.

“That said, it doesn’t mean that we turn a blind eye to our concerns about human rights in Azerbaijan. And I said it in my opening statement, I’ll say it again, we regularly urge Azerbaijan’s government to respect human rights and the fundamental freedoms necessary to realize the full potential of Azerbaijan’s people. I believe it is in our national security interest for us to be promoting human rights and democracy in Azerbaijan, and we will continue to do so. Thanks.

MURPHY: “Thank you for that. I won’t ask a question. I’m running out of time. But I’ll just note, I just left this committee meeting to meet with the relatively new leader of one of the opposition parties in Kosovo who is in town, who I think maybe got the chance to see Deputy Secretary Escobar.

“On the other side of the Black Sea, are the Balkan region. We’ve got some real potential bumps in the road coming up with the implementation of the license plate agreement in Kosovo. Again, I would just urge the Department to play as active a role as possible in the continued discussions between Serbia and Kosovo. We have for a long time, for good reason, have relied on the Europeans to take the lead, the Germans specifically. I think that there is more reason now than ever for the United States to step in. I don’t think you’ll see as active or as effective diplomacy from Europe, and the need has never been greater given what could happen in the coming months in the Serb regions of Kosovo.

“So again, just a plea to maintain real direct involvement from the State Department in those very tricky negotiations and talks. So thank you, Mr. Chairman.”

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