Blinken Calls on Aliyev

Secretary of State Antony Blinken had a phone conversation with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, as reported by the U.S. State Department press service.

Blinken praised the positive steps being taken by Armenia and Azerbaijan towards achieving a sustainable peace agreement, and welcomed the recent direct negotiations between the leaders and foreign ministers of the two countries.

“Secretary Blinken welcomed the release of 17 Armenian prisoners of war by Azerbaijan on October 4 and called on President Aliyev to continue supporting the peace process. The U.S. Secretary reaffirmed the readiness of the United States to provide support on issues such as clear delimitation of borders, transport connections, searching for and identifying the missing, the return of prisoners of war, and more,” the statement said.

Blinken also emphasized the importance of discussions around the rights and guarantees for the residents of Nagorno-Karabakh, called for maintaining the ceasefire regime, and focused on reaching agreement through negotiations, which the Secretary believes is the only path to sustainable peace.