US Has Attempted to Assist Peace Efforts Between Armenia and Azerbaijan: State Department

Since the Armenia-Azerbaijan war, the United States has sought to be helpful in supporting peace and reconciliation talks between the two nations. This was stated yesterday during a press conference held in New York in the context of the UN General Assembly's high-level week, by a senior official of the US State Department, as reported by panorama.am.

The official recalled the exchange of 15 prisoners by Azerbaijan in exchange for minefield maps of the occupied territories of Artsakh, which took place with the mediation of the American side.

“Thus, the question arises whether we can, with the support of the US, with the support of other countries from the Minsk Group, with the support of Turkey, contribute more to reducing tensions between the two sides along the border, regarding the remaining detainees and mines, and then take some small steps that can pave the way for a greater peace and reconciliation process,” said the official.

The official noted that during the meeting between US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu at the UN, Blinken clearly told Turkey, which is highly involved in this matter and is a neighbor, that the US is ready to be helpful if it can. The official added that the Secretary of State plans to hold bilateral meetings this week with both Armenians and Azerbaijanis, during which he will make the same proposal.