'Russia Doesn't Prevent Us':  U.S. Says 'Will Continue' To Pursue Peace Efforts Between Armenia, Azerbaijan

The United States on Thursday defended its diplomatic efforts in the South Caucasus saying that it will continue to pursue peace between Azerbaijan and Armenia regardless of statements from Moscow, TURAN's Washington correspondent reports.

"Russia does not in any way prevent us from conducting the important diplomatic efforts we think are necessary for Armenia and Azerbaijan, and we will continue to pursue them," State Department's spokesperson Matthew Miller told a daily briefing when responding to TURAN's questions on Russian officials' "warning against "outside interference" in the peace process.

Mikhail Galuzin, Russian deputy foreign minister was quoted last week as saying “no one from the outside will open the path to sustainable peace and stability in the South Caucasus.”

When asked by TURAN whether it was "too simplistic" to say that Russia was preventing Washington from moving forward on this topic, Miller said, yes, "it is."

Secretary of State Antoni Blinken late last year offered to host another foreign ministerial in the U.S. capital for peace negotiations, however the meeting hasn't taken place as yet.

Miller, when pressed by TURAN's correspondent on Thursday, didn't rule out a meeting between the ministers. "Stay tuned. We’ll have an announcement to make when we have a meeting scheduled," he said.