Matthew Miller:  "We Never Said We're Not Going To Continue To Engage With Azerbaijan"

The United States said on Tuesday that it will continue to engage with Azerbaijan to convey its concerns both in bilateral relations and peace, TURAN's Washington correspondent reports.

"We never said that we're not going to continue to engage with Azerbaijan. That would be against our interests as the United States of America," State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller told a daily briefing when asked by TURAN whether Assistant Secretary James O’Brien's forthcoming trip to Baku was a departure from recently announced "Not Business As Usual" policy with Azerbaijan.

"It would be against the interests of peace and security in the region for us to just drop all of our diplomatic engagements with Azerbaijan," the Spokesperson added.

O’Brien will arrive in Baku tonight. "He has meetings tomorrow. I should not preview private diplomatic conversations before they happen," Miller said.

"We continue to engage directly with both Azerbaijan and Armenia to make clear, for example, in the case of Azerbaijan, where we have concerns. We've been concerned with the recent trend of detaining journalists. We continue to urge them to respect the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all. It's something that I've spoken to on this podium in the past," Miller said.

He went on to add, "We also continue to urge them to seek a durable peace with Armenia. That's something that will continue to be the focus of our diplomatic engagements."

When asked whether the assistant secretary will specifically raise the issue of ongoing media clampdown in the country, Miller refrained from "previewing private diplomatic conversations before they happen," as he put it.

In the meantime, he added: " But I will say that human rights is always on the table for the United States of America when we have these sorts of diplomatic engagements."