U.S. Pledges 'Full Support' As Azerbaijan, Armenia To Hold New Round Of Talks In Moscow

Washington D.C./19.05.23/Turan:   Washington on Thursday pledged its "full support" and "continued engagement" as Armenia and Azerbaijan are poised to hold a new round of talks in Moscow in the coming days to try to normalise relations, TURAN's U.S. correspondent reports.

Foreign ministers Jeyhun Bayramov and Ararat Mirzoyan are set to hold talks in the Russian capital today, while their leaders, Ilham Aliyev and Nikol Pashinyan, have agreed to meet in Moscow next week.

"We continue to provide full support and engagement of the United States as these two countries work to secure a durable and dignified peace" State Department's Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel told a daily press briefing.

He went on to add, "Our view is that direct talks between the parties are of utmost importance, and we’re glad to see them happen and take place.  Whether they are taking place in Arlington, in Brussels, in Moscow, our support with this effort will continue to endure."

When pressed by TURAN whether Washington was confident about Moscow's mediating efforts, Patel said the following:  "I’m just not going to prescribe or hypothesize or speculate from here...  Our view is that peace between the countries is possible, and the U.S. continues to welcome and work towards a durable and dignified peace in this case."

In the meantime, Patel said, U.S. Senior Advisor for Caucasus Negotiations Louis Bono "continues to be deeply engaged in this issue," although it wasn't immediately clear whether Washington and Moscow have been able to coordinate their efforts.

"... One of the many reasons why we continue to maintain bilateral relations with Russia, even in a time of immense tension, is because there are, of course, issues between our two countries that we need to ensure are talked about responsibly, appropriately," Patel said without providing further comments.

As for the recent Washington talks between the foreign ministers, Patel reiterated that the U.S. them "as constructive."  "The parties themselves agreed to certain terms and believe [they] have a better understanding of each other’s points of view, and we continue to welcome the continued dialogue on this," he concluded.

Alex Raufoglu