U.S. State Department: We Wish to Engage in Bilateral Format to Assist Armenia and Azerbaijan

The spokesperson for the U.S. State Department, Ned Price, stated in a recent press briefing that the U.S. Secretary of State, along with other senior American officials at all levels, continues to work with Armenia and Azerbaijan, offering U.S. support for long-term and comprehensive peace.

In response to a journalist's question about whether Secretary of State Antony Blinken's recent phone calls with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to support the ongoing process between the two sides, Price noted, “No, that is not the case. It means that we have been able to achieve some progress, and through continued engagement and diplomatic negotiations with our Armenian and Azerbaijani partners, we believe we can continue this process. Certainly, the Secretary has had various phone calls with the leadership of Armenia and Azerbaijan, but there are a large number of senior officials in this structure who have been in contact with their counterparts at various levels to continue the process and reaffirm our offer of assistance as we wish to see long-term, comprehensive peace.”

When asked about Azerbaijani President Aliyev's daily denouncements of the Minsk Group co-chair format, contrary to the State Department's frequent mentions of this format, Price responded, “We have made clear in our statements that the U.S. is prepared to support these two countries and like-minded partners in any version or format that proves effective. We have been a co-chair of the Minsk Group since 1994, but as we have shown, we also want to engage with the countries in a bilateral format to help Armenia and Azerbaijan find long-term, comprehensive peace.”