Secretary of State Blinken is Personally Engaged in Resolving Conflict Between Armenia and Azerbaijan: Patel

WASHINGTON, DC — US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is personally deeply engaged on the resolution of the crisis between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Vedant Patel, Deputy Spokesperson of the US Department of State, stated during a press briefing.

“This is an area of the world that the Secretary himself is personally deeply engaged on. And over the course of his time as Secretary, he has had regular engagements at regular intervals with both of these countries. And our engagements with both of them are ongoing,” said Patel, adding that they continue to believe that a peace is possible between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

“And our engagements with both of them are ongoing, and we continue to believe that a peace and – is possible here. And that’s something that we’re going to continue to work towards,” Patel said.

He also said that the United States is deeply troubled by the continuing arrests of members of Azerbaijani civil society, most recently Anar Mammadli. ‘And we urge the Azerbaijani Government to immediately release all individuals who are unjustly detained,’ he said.

During the April 28 telephone call, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan discussed with Blinken the Armenia-US relations, the April 5 trilateral meeting in Brussels, and the Armenian-Azerbaijani peace process.

Blinken, in turn, reaffirmed Washington’s support for Armenia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and welcomed the agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan to use the Alma-Ata Declaration as a basis for border delimitation.