US points to “significant progress” in “constructive” contacts between Armenia and Azerbaijan

Blinken stresses that a peace agreement “is within reach” and calls for “additional goodwill and flexibility”

May 5. (EUROPE PRESS) –

The Secretary of State of the United States, Antony Blinken, has stressed that Armenia and Azerbaijan have made “significant progress” in their “constructive” contacts in recent days in the United States, amid efforts to end their disputes, centered mainly in Nagorno Karabagh.

“After an intense and constructive series of bilateral and trilateral discussions, the parties have made significant progress in addressing difficult issues,” Blinken said, stressing that Yerevan and Baku “have demonstrated a sincere commitment to normalizing relations and put an end to the longstanding conflict between the two countries”.

Blinken, who has participated in several of the meetings between the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia, Jeyhun Bayramov and Ararat Mirzoián, respectively, has highlighted that both countries “have reached an agreement in principle on certain points and have a better understanding of the position of each one in the pending matters”.

“I have proposed to the ministers that they return to their capitals to share with their governments the perspective that, with additional goodwill, flexibility and commitment, the agreement is within reach,” he stressed, before reiterating that Yerevan and Baku “will continue to have the full support” of Washington in efforts to “achieve a lasting and sustainable peace.”

In this sense, he has emphasized that “the only path to lasting peace is dialogue” and has recognized that both countries have made “tangible progress” after addressing “very difficult issues” during this round of contacts in the North American country.

“Achieving a (peace) agreement would not only be historic, but it would be in line with the interests of the peoples of Azerbaijan and Armenia and would have very positive effects even beyond these two countries,” he explained, before stressing that “the last kilometer of the marathon is always the hardest”.

“The leadership that we are seeing in Armenia and Azerbaijan (…) is inspiring. None of this is easy, but the commitment, the determination to move forward and address the unfinished business that remains is real,” said Blinken, who has asserted that “a final agreement is within reach.

For their part, the foreign ministries of Armenia and Azerbaijan have published a joint statement in which they have noted that Mirzoián and Bayramov “have exchanged their points of view on the situation and have shown their positions on existing issues in relation to normalization of relationships”.

“The ministers and their teams have made progress in mutual understandings on some articles of the draft peace agreement and the establishment of relations, while acknowledging that positions on some key issues remain divergent,” the statement said, showing its appreciation. to the United States for hosting the meetings and includes an agreement to “continue discussions.”

Armenia and Azerbaijan have been involved in various confrontations in recent years, the last in 2020, over the control of Nagorno Karabagh, an Azeri territory with a majority Armenian population that has been a focus of conflict since it decided to separate in 1988 from the Azerbaijan region integrated into the sovietic Union.

Tensions rose again with new security incidents between the two countries due to Baku’s decision to install a “border post” in the Lachín corridor, something criticized by Yerevan and Moscow, which maintains peacekeeping troops deployed in the area after the peace agreement. ceasefire after the 2020 war.

Azerbaijan has repeatedly denounced the transit of arms and ammunition through the Lachin corridor and has said that these operations take place despite the presence of Russian forces in the area, arguing that they must ensure that such deliveries do not have place.