Ned Price
Minsk Group 'Not Functioning', State Department Says
The OSCE Minsk Group "has not been a functioning body for some time," the State Department Spokesperson told a daily press briefing on Wednesday, TURAN's Washington correspondent reports.
"... But we are prepared to work to resolve this conflict bilaterally, multilaterally through the OSCE, with partners, with the parties themselves," Spokesperson Ned Price said in response to TURAN's questions about Washington's mediating efforts.
According to Price, the U.S. works "remarkably closely" with its European partners when it comes to Nagorno-Karabakh: "... Our European partners do have monitoring missions; they have a presence on the ground... So we share our information with our European partners. The same is true of them to us."
Price went on to add, "And we believe it’s important that we continue to work closely together with our European partners, through the OSCE as appropriate, directly with the parties if and when it’s effective. We’ve done all of those things and we’ll continue to do what we think is effective to bring about a lasting peace and a diminution of the tensions."
Price's comments came after Azerbaijan rejected Washington's concerns about the current situation around the Lachin corridor. The spokesperson refrained from responding to Baku. In the meantime, he expressed Washington's commitment to supporting a lasting peace.
"... We believe that negotiations is the path forward. In the near term, we’ve called for that restoration of free movement so that the humanitarian needs of those who depend on this corridor for lifesaving essentials and supplies can be met, and the United States will continue to do what we can to bring the parties together, to encourage this dialogue, and to encourage a full restoration of this free movement through the corridor," Price said.
Alex Raufoglu
Washington D.C.
Politics
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Since November last year, there has been a suppression of the independent press and civil society in Azerbaijan, which is extremely disturbing and sets Azerbaijan back years, US Ambassador to Azerbaijan Mark Libby said in an interview with a group of journalists on Friday. According to him, the United States is taking all possible measures to improve the situation. "We do this openly in meetings with our colleagues. We are doing something openly, something privately, and we will continue this," the ambassador said.
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Representatives of over 50 international organizations and leading universities in the UK and the world have appealed to the head of the Foreign Policy Department of the United Kingdom, David Cameron, on the case of Azerbaijani economist Gubad Ibadoglu. The message notes that Ibadoglu, who was released under house arrest during his detention, seriously undermined his health and now apparently needs a complex surgical operation, but he is still banned from leaving the country.
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The National Council of Democratic Forces (NCDF) has scheduled a protest rally in Baku for May 19 demanding the release of political prisoners, electoral reform, improvement of the social situation of the population, and the opening of land borders. Earlier, the opposition had already scheduled rallies with these demands for April 21 and May 5. However, the Baku Executive refused to authorize opposition demonstrations.
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The Biden Administration on Thursday formally accused Russia of using chemical weapons in Ukraine, and pledged further steps to hold Moscow accountable, following a new set of sanctions against the Kremlin, TURAN's Washington correspondent reports.
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