Significant Progress Recorded in Washington Negotiations Between Armenia and Azerbaijan: Blinken

U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken praised the progress made in negotiations between Yerevan and Baku following a meeting in Washington, according to Voice of America.

“My team and I, along with National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, greatly appreciate the opportunity to meet with you and the further progress toward achieving this shared purpose, including agreement on some additional articles, deepening mutual understanding on other unsettled issues, as well as the recognition that there is still much hard work ahead to achieve a final agreement,” Blinken stated.

He emphasized the upcoming meeting between the leaders of the EU-mediated talks between Azerbaijan and Armenia as significant. “We eagerly await the continuation of this process in the coming weeks,” the Secretary of State said.

“I think there is a clear understanding among all parties that as we approach an agreement, the process becomes more difficult in some cases, because, by definition, the toughest issues are left to the end,” he added.

Later, via Twitter, the U.S. Secretary of State thanked both parties for their sincere and open dialogue. “Thanks to Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov and Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan for their sincere and open displays in working toward a stable peace agreement. Significant progress has been made, and we are committed to a peaceful future for the region,” the Secretary wrote.

Before the Secretary's speech, U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller described the talks as constructive, revealing that the Secretary would hold bilateral and trilateral meetings with the foreign ministers.

Following the negotiations, Yerevan and Baku summarized the results in a similarly-worded statement, noting: “The ministers and their teams continued to advance the draft bilateral agreement on ‘Establishing Peace and Diplomatic Relations.’ They reached agreement on several additional articles of the draft agreement and recorded progress in mutual understanding while acknowledging that positions on several key issues require further work. Both ministers expressed their appreciation to the U.S. side for hosting discussions between Armenia and Azerbaijan and reiterated their commitment to continue negotiations.”

It is noteworthy that the Washington negotiations between the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan began on June 27 at the National Foreign Relations Center named after George Shultz in Arlington, near Washington. Concurrently with the negotiations in Washington, a military clash occurred in Nagorno-Karabakh, resulting in the deaths of four Armenian servicemen. Yerevan and Baku exchanged accusations against each other. In this regard, State Department Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel stated during a press briefing: “We are deeply concerned about the casualties resulting from the incident in Nagorno-Karabakh and extend our condolences to the families of all those who lost their lives. These recent incidents underscore the necessity of refraining from military operations and establishing lasting and dignified peace.” Patel emphasized, however, that the negotiations are proceeding as planned without any changes to the timeline.

It is noteworthy that the next high-level meeting between Armenia and Azerbaijan is currently scheduled for July 21 in Brussels, with the participation of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, and European Council President Charles Michel.