“We are encouraged that the fighting has stopped and that there have been no reports of military action in recent days,” the US top diplomat said.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken called on Monday for “lasting peace” between Armenia and Azerbaijan, stressing that he was “encouraged” by the absence of fighting in recent days, after an unprecedented escalation of hostilities since 2020 that threatens to derail the peace process of the two rival states of the Caucasus.
“We are encouraged by the fact that the fighting has stopped and that no military actions have been reported in recent days,” the head of US diplomacy said as he welcomed, on his own initiative and for the first time, his counterparts of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan and Azerbaijan Jeyhun Bairamov.
He assured that he discussed with the leaders of the two countries and that they are willing to agree to restore “peace”.
“There is a path to lasting peace that will resolve the differences”, he ruled, calling for “active diplomacy”, which according to him is “the best solution for everyone”.
The meeting took place in a New York hotel, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.
Answering questions from journalists attending the meeting, the head of Azerbaijan’s diplomacy assured that he is “open to discussion”. “We must all work for a lasting peace”, he added, without failing to denounce “certain Armenian provocations”.
The new fighting was the fiercest since the 2020 war between the two countries over control of the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave, when more than 6,500 people were killed. The conflict ended with Yerevan being forced to cede territory to Baku.
Armenia and Azerbaijan were also involved in armed conflict in the 1990s, also over Nagorno-Karabakh. That war had over 30,000 dead.
Armenia’s National Security Council reported on Monday that more than 200 Armenian military personnel had been killed in the past week.
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