What Proposals Has Washington Presented to Yerevan and Baku?

The U.S. administration has presented proposals to the leadership of Armenia and Azerbaijan regarding the resolution of the most contentious issues in the framework of working towards a peace agreement. According to TASS, this statement was made by Derek Hogan, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs. He assured that there is progress in the negotiation process between the two countries.

“In early May, the Secretary of State met with the foreign ministers of both countries to develop solutions to some of the most contentious issues, including, for example, the withdrawal of troops in the border region, the dispute resolution mechanism in the agreement we are trying to reach, and the rights and security of ethnic Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh. These are many of the issues we are working on,” said the U.S. State Department official during a session of the U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee.

On May 1, a bilateral meeting took place in Arlington between Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov and Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan. On the same day, a trilateral meeting was held in Washington between Ararat Mirzoyan, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov. The negotiations, which lasted several days, concluded on May 4.

Hogan believes that there has been intensive diplomatic interaction between the two sides at the mentioned meeting. “We are now clarifying what can be done regarding the most contentious issues. We have put forward several proposals. They may provide both sides with some form of wording that allows them to overcome disagreements. They are discussing these proposals,” the State Department official disclosed.

He noted that he spoke with the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia last week to understand which directions can be pursued. Referring to the planned meeting on June 1 in Chișinău between Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, which will include participation from European Council President Charles Michel, French President Emmanuel Macron, and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Hogan stated that the meeting will focus on what needs to be done to conclude the matter.

“We still have a long way to go. As for the Lachin corridor, the Secretary of State has made active efforts, especially to open it for commercial and private transportation,” Hogan added.

It should be noted that Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced during a government meeting on May 18 that a trilateral meeting between Pashinyan, Aliyev, and Putin is scheduled for May 25 in Moscow.