WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The importance of advancing the peace process between Azerbaijan and Armenia was discussed by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a conversation with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on Wednesday, according to a State Department spokesperson.
Last September, Yerevan suffered a significant defeat when Baku’s forces recaptured the region of Nagorno-Karabakh, which, despite being part of Azerbaijan, had a mainly Armenian population.
The two South Caucasus countries are currently attempting to reach a formal peace agreement, but negotiations have stalled over issues such as the demarcation of their 1,000-km (620-mile) border, which remains closed and heavily militarized.
Mutual suspicions between the two nations continue to run high, with the Azeri defence ministry claiming on Sunday that Armenia was amassing troops along certain sections of the border, a report that Armenia dismissed.
Blinken informed Aliyev that there was no valid reason for escalating tensions along the border and warned that aggressive actions and rhetoric from either side could jeopardize prospects for peace, said State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller in a statement.
According to an official summary of the conversation, Azerbaijan stated that Aliyev “expressed dissatisfaction with the lack of transparency and inclusiveness” regarding an upcoming trilateral meeting that Armenia is set to hold with the United States and the European Union on Friday.
Aliyev voiced concerns that increased support from the EU and U.S. for Armenia, as well as Baku’s worries about potential military assistance for Yerevan, could lead to an arms race in the region and possibly result in provocations.
“Blinken reassured President Aliyev that the April 5 meeting was not meant to be anti-Azerbaijan” and would instead focus on Armenia’s economy, the statement noted.
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh, Ismail Shakil and Felix Light, writing by David Ljunggren, editing by Sandra Maler)
