US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that Washington supports the joint work of Azerbaijan and Armenia to achieve a lasting peace agreement.
“Hosting peace talks this week with Foreign Ministers Ararat Mirzoyan and Jeyhun Bayramov at the National Foreign Affairs Training Center. We support Armenia and Azerbaijan working together toward a durable and dignified agreement. Dialogue is key to lasting peace,” he wrote on Twitter.
The meeting took place at the National Training Center for Foreign Affairs.
Blinken held the bilateral meetings with the foreign ministers of the two countries behind closed doors.
The next round of talks between the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia on a peace treaty and normalization of relations between the two countries began in the United States.
The negotiations will last until June 29.
Over the past 30 years, Armenia and Azerbaijan have waged two wars centered on the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, which, despite being internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, is primarily populated by Armenians.
The six-week conflict in 2020, which concluded with a Russian-mediated truce, allowed Azerbaijan to reclaim vast regions of territory lost in the initial war following the dissolution of Soviet rule.
In May, Blinken had expressed optimism toward the two sides negotiating a peace treaty.
“Over the past few days, the two sides have negotiated some highly contentious issues, and they’ve made noticeable progress toward a lasting peace agreement,” Blinken stated.
He further expressed optimism that a peace agreement was within reach.
