U.S. Reiterates Readiness To Assist Azerbaijan, Armenia to Find Peace

Washington on Monday reiterated its readiness to to assist Armenia and Azerbaijan to find peace, TURAN's U.S. correspondent reports.

"We urge Armenia and Azerbaijan to continue to intensify their diplomatic engagement and to make use of existing mechanisms for direct engagement to find comprehensive solutions to all outstanding issues related to or resulting from the Nagorno Karabakh conflict and to normalize their relations through the conclusion of a comprehensive peace agreement" - State Department's spokesperson Ned Price said during a daily press briefing at the department.

"When it comes to our role, we do remain ready to assist Armenia and Azerbaijan with these efforts, including in our capacity as a co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group", Price said. "And so when we talk about existing mechanisms, of course, the OSCE’s Minsk Group is part of that,"

In the meantime, it remained unclear why the State Department referred to Andrew Schofer as "Senior Advisor for Caucasus Negotiations" in its early morning tweet about the MG Co-Chair's current trip to the region.

"I don’t have the details on this individual’s travel or in what capacity he was acting at the time... " Price said when responding to TURAN's question.

Shaffer on Monday met with Armenia's Nikol Pashinyan and discussed "the role of MG Co-Chairs’s format "in the comprehensive settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict," according to a press release issued by the PM office.

He is also expected to visit Baku, TURAN was informed by diplomatic sources.

Alex Rsufoglu

Washington D.C.