Blinken Expected To Hold Phone Calls With Bayramov, Mirzoyan "In The Coming Days", State Department Says

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to re-engage by phone with Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers 'in the coming days', the State Department spokesperson told TURAN's Washington correspondent on Wednesday following an announcement on the retirement of the Caucasus negotiator Philip Reeker.

Asked by TURAN who would be the point person at the Department overseeing U.S. mediating efforts in the South Caucasus following Amb. Reeker's departure, Price told a daily press briefing that "this is an issue that will continue to receive attention from senior-level officials in this building."

"As you know, Secretary Blinken is personally invested in this process; he’s demonstrated that personal investment by bringing together the leaders of – his counterparts from Armenia and Azerbaijan by speaking with them regularly. I expect he’ll have an opportunity in the coming days to re-engage by phone with his counterparts in Armenia and Azerbaijan," he said.

Karen Donfried, U.S. assistant secretary for Europe and Eurasian Affairs, also plays a leading role in these efforts, as Price put it. "But it is something that we will remain committed to going forward."

Yet it remained unclear whether Reeker's position as special envoy would remain vacant or be completely shut down. "I don’t have anything to add when it comes to personnel. But I do have something to emphasize when it comes to policy, and that is what I said at the top. This in no way diminishes our commitment to promoting a secure, stable, democratic, and prosperous South Caucasus region," Price said in response to TURAN's questions.

The spokesperson also reminded that both under Ambassador Reeker’s tenure and under the tenure of his predecessor as well, the U.S. remained "engaged" "We engaged bilaterally. We have engaged with likeminded partners like the EU. We’ve engaged with international organizations like the OSCE to facilitate direct dialogue between Azerbaijan and Armenia to find solutions to all of those issues related to or resulting from the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict."

He went on to add, "Our approach is not going to change. Our approach is one of facilitation, helping the parties themselves to sit down together in a constructive way, and to ideally achieve progress to what is ultimately a comprehensive, long-term solution."

Asked whether there was a connection between Reeker's retirement and the fact that his latest effort to bring the foreign ministers together in December didn’t pan out, Price pushed back: "Of course not. This was always intended to be a rather short-term assignment on the part of Ambassador Reeker. He’s someone who took on this assignment at the request of the Secretary after what had been a storied career," he said.

During his testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in late November, Reeker encouraged the leaders in Azerbaijan and Armenia to "consider an international mechanism to ensure, monitor, and report on any agreement involving Nagorno-Karabakh."

"The sides are at an historic crossroads," he said. "We are encouraging them to choose a future of prosperity and demonstrate the wisdom of working together on a peace that will benefit the people of the region for generations to come. Our efforts will continue towards this goal, and we will do so in any way we can."

Alex Raufoglu

Washington D.C.