Blinken, Cavusoglu, discussed situation in Armenia and Azerbaijan - State Department

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Wednesday in Riga, Latvia on the margins of the NATO Foreign Ministerial.

"Secretary Blinken and Foreign Minister Cavusoglu discussed the crisis in Ethiopia and joint efforts aimed at maintaining stability in the Black Sea region. They also discussed Russia's aggression against Ukraine and the situation in Armenia and Azerbaijan as well as Afghanistan," the State Department said in a readout of the meeting.

"The discussion built on President Biden and President Erdogan's conversation in Rome last month regarding bilateral cooperation and other priorities, including democracy and human rights." Department's Spokesperson Ned Price said.

Wednesday marked the conclusion of NATO's two-day ministerial as the U.S. and NATO warn that Russia may be planning to invade Ukraine, just like it did before annexing the Crimean Peninsula in 2014.

Secretary Blinken will meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba today at the OSCE Ministerial to discuss the issue.

"We don't know whether President [Vladimir] Putin has made the decision to invade," Blinken said on Wednesday. "We do know that he is putting in place the capacity to do so in short order should he so decide."

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg also warned that "there will be a high price to pay" if Moscow uses force against Ukraine.

Alex Raufoglu

Washington D.C.