State Department's Reeker expected to travel to Baku in first visit by Biden official

U.S. State Department's Acting Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs Philip Reeker is due to arrive in the South Caucasus this weekend for a week-long tour that aims to reaffirm alliances with regional countries, Turan's Washington correspondent reports.

Reeker will travel to Tbilisi, Baku, and Yerevan June 6-13 to "advance bilateral and regional priorities and to express U.S. support for democratic and economic development across the region," the State Department announced on Friday.

In Georgia, he will meet with government, opposition, and civil society leaders to discuss full implementation of the April 19 agreement among Georgian political parties as well as Russia's ongoing aggression against and occupation of Georgia.

"In Armenia and Azerbaijan, Acting Assistant Secretary Reeker will meet with government, civil society, and business leaders to discuss bilateral priorities and issues related to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict," reads the DoS release.

Just last month Reeker spoke separately with the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan on the border situation amid rising tensions between the two countries.

Alex Raufoglu

Washington D.C.