The talks, which are taking place under the auspices of US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, are supposed to continue until Thursday, in the presence of Armenian Foreign Ministers Ararat Mirzoyan and Azerbaijani Jeyhun Bayramov.
Armenia and Azerbaijan, the two former Soviet republics in the Caucasus, fought two wars, the first in the early 1990s and the second in 2020, with the aim of controlling the Nagorno-Karabakh region, which is inhabited by an Armenian majority and unilaterally separated from Azerbaijan three decades ago.
The tension, which was already severe, was renewed when Baku announced ten days ago that it had set up the first checkpoint at the entrance to the Lachin Corridor, the only land link between Armenia and the Nagorno-Karabakh region, which was subject to a blockade for several months, which caused shortages of goods and cuts in electricity. A step that Armenia considered a violation of the recent ceasefire between the two sides.
These negotiations, which are being mediated by the US, come days after a tour in the region by French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna last week.
During the tour, she urged Azerbaijan to “restore movement without obstacles along the Lachin Corridor,” the vital artery of the Nagorno-Karabakh region, and expressed her hope for a peaceful settlement despite the deep differences between the two parties.
Blinken, who is also following this file, will meet on Monday in a closed meeting with the two parties at a conference center bearing the name of former US Secretary of State George Schultz near the federal capital.
– honest-
A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Monday he expected “frank conversations”.
He added that “our goal is to ensure that the two ministers sit down at the table and talk to each other” for several days in an effort to achieve “a just and lasting peace.”
He explained that the negotiations deal in particular with an “agreement on the normalization of relations” between the two countries, stressing that “all issues are being discussed.”
Blinken, who has been calling for “direct dialogue” for months, discussed US support for the peace process between Armenia and Azerbaijan in separate talks with the leaders of the two countries over the weekend.
US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement that Blinken expressed, in his call with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on Sunday, “the United States’ deep concern that Azerbaijan’s establishment of a checkpoint on the Lachin corridor would undermine efforts to build confidence in the peace process.”
The statement added that Blinken “stressed the importance of reopening the Lachin corridor to commercial and private vehicles as soon as possible.”
Miller added that Blinken conveyed to Aliyev Washington’s support for the peace process between Azerbaijan and Armenia, and “shared his conviction that peace is possible.”
Miller said in a separate statement Saturday that the previous day Blinken had also held a conversation with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.
The US Secretary of State also spoke about “the importance of peace talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan” and pledged “the United States’ continued support” for them, according to Miller.
Blinken previously participated in two tripartite meetings last November and then in February on the sidelines of the conference on security in Munich, but without these talks leading to progress.
For its part, Moscow mediated a ceasefire between Yerevan and Baku after the last round of fighting between them in 2020, and deployed peacekeeping forces along the Lachin Corridor.
With Russia preoccupied with the war in Ukraine and unwilling to strain its relations with Turkey, Azerbaijan’s main ally, the United States and the European Union are seeking to warm relations between the two archenemies.
#Washington #hosts #peace #negotiations #Armenia #Azerbaijan
2023-05-01 18:00:14
