Azerbaijan Requests Postponement of Scheduled Foreign Ministers’ Talks in Washington

YEREVAN—Azerbaijan has requested the postponement of fresh talks between its Foreign Minister, Jeyhun Bayramov, and his Armenian counterpart, Ararat Mirzoyan, slated for next week, official Yerevan said on Thursday.

Bayramov and Mirzoyan were due to begin a fresh round of negotiations in Washington on June 12 to build on the progress made towards an Armenian-Azerbaijani peace treaty in recent weeks.

A spokeswoman for the Armenian Foreign Ministry said the talks had been delayed “at the request of the Azerbaijani side.” She did not provide a reason for the delay.

“The public will be duly notified of the new dates of the meeting,” she added in a brief statement.

The Azerbaijani news agency Turan was the first to report earlier in the day that the Washington talks had been postponed. It cited unnamed diplomatic sources attributing the postponement to a scheduling conflict and “logistical” issues.

The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry essentially confirmed the information. “We hope that the meeting will take place in the near future,” a ministry spokesman said, adding that the new date would be announced by the U.S. State Department.

“Regarding the exact date of the next round of talks, we don’t have any specific dates to announce at this time,” a State Department spokesperson said in written comments to RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.

The official also stated that Washington looks forward to hosting Armenian-Azerbaijani peace talks again. “Direct dialogue is the key to resolving issues and reaching a durable and dignified peace,” added the official.

The two foreign ministers held four days of negotiations outside Washington one month ago.