Top Biden Aid Urges Azerbaijan, Armenia To Consider Steps To Ease Tensions

U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan on Thursday spoke separately with Azerbaijani presidential aide Hikmat Hajiyev and Armen Grigoryan, secretary of Armenia's Security Council, the White House said in a statement, TURAN's Washington correspondent reports.

"In these calls, they took stock of the progress made in EU and U.S.-facilitated peace talks since their joint September 27 meeting in Washington. All affirmed their commitment to negotiations with the goal of finalizing a peace agreement," reads the statement.

Sullivan urged both sides to consider steps that will ease tensions and serve as the basis of good neighborly relations in the future.

"Sullivan noted our ongoing concern over impeded access to the Lachin Corridor and the growing humanitarian implications of this situation, and called for full restoration of free movement through the corridor," it said.

The White House offered no further details about what comes next.

Sullivan's calls to Baku and Yerevan came as the Biden administration pledged to "continues to press" Azerbaijan, Armenia to maintain momentum for negotiation.

U.S. engagement "is playing a key role", as the top State Department official in charge of Caucasus policy Karen Donfried put it during her testimony before the Congressional Foreign Affairs Committee last week, saying that Washington demonstrates "a whole-of-government commitment" to securing peace.

Should Azerbaijan and Armenia secure peace deal, Donfried said, "our cooperation will become even more critical as we build the confidence and capacity of each country to freely exercise sovereignty in a manner that maintains peace with their neighbors".

Alex Raufoglu

Washington D.C.