Blinken says hard work remains to reach peace deal between Azerbaijan and Armenia

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said hard work remains to reach a final agreement in the talks between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

He was commenting on the meeting between Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov and Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan in the US capital Washington, Report informs.

Blinken said there was progress in the talks, including "agreement on some additional articles as well as deepening understanding of the positions on other outstanding issues, as well as a recognition that there remains hard work to be done to try to reach a final agreement".

Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov and his Armenian counterpart Ararat Mirzoyan held bilateral negotiations on June 27-29 at the George Schultz National Foreign Affairs Training Center in Arlington, Virginia.

While in Washington they met with Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Assistant to the President and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan.

The ministers and their teams continued progress on the draft bilateral Agreement on Peace and the Establishment of Interstate Relations. They reached an agreement on additional articles and achieved mutual understanding on the draft agreement, meanwhile acknowledging that the positions on some key issues require further work.

Both ministers expressed their appreciation to the US side for hosting negotiations between Azerbaijan and Armenia, and their commitment to continue their negotiations.