Washington: Drawing Armenian, Azerbaijani positions closer important for US

US State Department Spokesman Ned Price has said it is especially important for the United States to bring the positions of Armenia and Azerbaijan closer.

He made the remarks at a press briefing on September 26 to comment on the meeting of Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York last week, Caliber.Az reports.

He recalled that this was the first personal meeting between the two foreign ministers after the latest outbreak of violence.

"It was important for us and for the Secretary, in particular, to bring the two sides together. Of course, the Secretary had had conversations with the two leaders, but this was the first face-to-face meeting that the two foreign ministers had since the latest outbreak of violence.

The Secretary noted to both leaders the importance of maintaining the ceasefire, of maintaining the calm, said – noted that we're dedicated to a sustainable ceasefire and to a peaceful resolution. We made clear to both foreign ministers that the United States stands ready to support – to support this bilaterally, multilaterally, together with partners. This includes our support for efforts by EU Council President Charles Michel to bring the leaders together.

They during the course of that meeting discussed the best path forward, and the Secretary suggested the sides share ideas for how to meaningfully advance the peace process before the end of the month.

Our message has been consistent for some time. We call on Azerbaijan to return troops to their initial positions. We urge the disengagement of military forces and work to resolve all outstanding issues between Armenia and Azerbaijan through peaceful negotiations. The use of force is not an acceptable path. We've made that clear privately. We've also made that clear publicly, and we're glad that our continued engagement, including at high levels, including last week in New York, with both countries, has helped to halt the hostilities, and we'll continue to engage and encourage the work needed to reach a lasting peace because there can be and there is no military solution to this conflict," Price said.

Asked about the next meeting between the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers, Price said that it would be decided by the two countries.

"This will be up to the two countries to decide, but we do think that continued engagement directly between Armenia and Azerbaijan is not only in their interests, it's in the interests of the region and beyond. We have offered to be of assistance, again, bilaterally, trilaterally, multilaterally, and of course, the EU is playing an important role as well," he said.

Commenting on Azerbaijani presidential aide Hikmat Hajiyev's visit to the US and his meeting with US Assistant Secretary Donfried, Price noted that Washington is in regular contact with both Armenian and Azerbaijani officials and "that will continue".

"As we've discussed in other contexts, the United States is not and cannot be in a position to submit a plan as a fait accompli. Our task is to bring the sides together, facilitate dialogue, help the sides together work through differences, to work through disagreements peacefully and diplomatically. That's what last week was about. That's what our continued engagement is about," the spokesman added.