White House Calls On Azerbaijan, Armenia To 'Deescalate'

Washington D.C./Turan: The White House on Tuesday called on Azerbaijan and Armenia to "deescalate," TURAN's Washington correspondent reports.

"We urge all sides here to deescalate... We don't want to see any of this violence, and we want to see all sides take appropriate steps to deescalate the tension and to stop the violence," National Security Council's John Kirby told reporters when asked about the administration's position on the ongoing conflict.

He refused to comment on the question about the presence of 2,000 Russian soldiers in the Karabakh region as a cause for concern: "I’m not prepared to go beyond that today."

Kirby's comments came as the Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke separately with Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders to "offer continued U.S. assistance in facilitating peace discussions," as the Department put it in its readouts.

TURAN's Washington correspondent asked Vedant Patel, principal deputy spokesperson, for further details regarding the Secretary's call which followed his Senior Advisor Lou Bono's recent visit in the region.

The Secretary "was offering his continued support on the U.S.’s assistance in these engagements, which as you know... is something that we have remained quite committed on," Patel said during a daily press briefing.

He went on to add, "Obviously through Secretary Blinken’s commitment to this issue, when Ambassador Reeker was leading this portfolio through his work, and now through the work of Lou Bono as well."

TURAN also asked Patel whether Blinken raised the issue of human rights during his call with President Aliyev.

"I don’t have specifics to get into about the diplomatic engagements... beyond what was in the readout.  But of course, human rights is something that we raise regularly with all our partners, including those in the South Caucasus," Patel said.

Alex Raufoglu