Armenia-Azerbaijan: White House Urges Parties To Return To Negotiating Table

The White House on Wednesday renewed its calls for Azerbaijan and Armenia to return to the negotiating table and to decrease tensions, TURAN's Washington correspondent reports.

"We’re all mindful of the tensions there," John Kirby, the U.S. National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications, said in response to TURAN's question of the current state of tension between Baku and Yerevan, as well as the U.S. involvement in the peace process.

Kirby was speaking to reporters during a briefing organized by the State Department's Washington Foreign Press Center, on the Biden-Harris administration’s foreign policy agenda.

Asked by TURAN's correspondent if there was anything Washington could do "to move the needle", Kirby reminded that National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan has had conversations with his counterparts, as well as Secretary Antony Blinken has been involved:

".... We just named a Senior Advisor for Caucasus Negotiations, Mr. Louis Bono, and so we’re going to remain engaged largely through his offices, but certainly at all levels that are appropriate," he said.

Kirby went on to add, "... while we’re focused on urging the parties to return to negotiations, we are also calling for the restoration of commercial traffic to the Lachin corridor."

Washington "wants to see" the tensions decrease. "We want to see both sides go back to the negotiating table. That’s important." Kirby concluded.

Secretary Blinken last week appointed career diplomat Louis L. Bono as Senior Advisor for Caucasus Negotiations, in which he is replacing Ambassador Philip Reeker, who recently retired from the State Department.

Alex Raufoglu

Washington D.C.