Ned Price
Washington on Thursday dismissed Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov's claims that the U.S. and France 'have abandoned" Moscow as OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair, TURAN's Washington correspondent reports.
"I can't speak to the role that Russia might play in this," -State Department's spokesperson Ned Price said in response to TURAN's question during a daily press conference at the department.
"What I can say is that we stand ready to engage Armenia and Azerbaijan – again, bilaterally or with likeminded partners, including through the OSCE mechanism," Price added.
Late last week during his meeting with Armenian counterpart Ararat Mirzoyan in Moscow, Russia's Lavrov claimed that the West had "prioritized its campaign against Russia over the settlement of the Karabakh conflict".
"I do not know what fate awaits this mediation group since our French and American colleagues—under the wave of Russophobia—have abandoned everything having to do with the Russian Federation. They also have canceled the Minsk Group chairmanship, announcing that they will not work with in that capacity," Lavrov said,
Speaking to reporters on Thursday, State Department's Price made it clear that Washington "remains committed" to promoting a peaceful, democratic, and prosperous future for the South Caucasus region:
"And we welcome, as you've heard from us before in the readouts from Secretary Blinken, the April 6 meeting between Prime Minister Pashinyan and President Aliyev in Brussels, including the positive momentum on preparations for peace talks and the formation of a bilateral commission on border delimitation. As the Secretary emphasized in the calls he had with those two leaders the day before on April 5th, we continue to encourage further peace negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and we reiterated – and the Secretary reiterated – that the United States stands ready to engage bilaterally and with likeminded partners, including through the role as an OSCE Minsk group co-chair to help the countries find a long-term comprehensive peace" - he said.
In the meantime, Price refrained from commenting on Russia's mediation role when asked by TURAN whether Moscow's actions in Ukraine disqualified it in peacemaking efforts between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
U.S. and France on Wednesday discussed the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, along with a wide range of other topics, during a phone call between Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman and French Foreign Ministry Secretary General François Delattre.
Alex Raufoglu
Washington D.C,
Politics
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Armenia is not against the dissolution of the OSCE Minsk Group, but does not consider it appropriate to discuss this issue now. "In the context of peace, we consider it possible to make a decision on the dissolution of the OSCE Minsk Group. When peace is an established fact, the existence of such a format may raise questions," Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said at a press conference today. "The whole question is about the timing, we need to understand how effectively and correctly to turn such topics into a subject of discussion right now," the Armenian Prime Minister added.
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He expressed his willingness to meet with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev at the border between the two countries. "A meeting with Ilham Aliyev could take place at the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. I am open to such a format," Pashinyan said at a press conference today. According to Pashinyan, Armenia recently presented another proposal for a peace treaty to Azerbaijan.
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On August 31, Azerbaijan observes a "day of silence" before the Sunday’s early parliamentary elections for the unicameral Milli Majlis. All electoral campaigning is prohibited 24 hours before the voting. The early elections were initiated by the ruling Yeni Azerbaijan Party. This decision was motivated by the overlap of the scheduled elections in November with the global UN forum - the COP20 climate conference taking place in Baku.
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On August 30, at approximately 22:55, the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant in Metsamor was disconnected from the country's power grid, as reported by the Armenian Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure. The shutdown was caused by a lightning strike, which triggered the plant's safety systems to switch the station to a safe shutdown mode. Currently, the plant's staff is working on restarting the facility.
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