The United States stands ready to engage Armenia and Azerbaijan, including through the OSCE mechanism, according to Ned Price, the spokesperson for the Department of State.
Price told a press briefing on Thursday, April 14 that the U.S. The United States remains committed to promoting a peaceful, democratic, and prosperous future for the South Caucasus region.
"And we welcome, as you’ve heard from us before in the readouts from Secretary Blinken, the April 6 meeting between Prime Minister Pashinyan and President Aliyev in Brussels, including the positive momentum on preparations for peace talks and the formation of a bilateral commission on border delimitation," Price said.
"As the Secretary emphasized in the calls he had with those two leaders the day before on April 5, we continue to encourage further peace negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and we reiterated – and the Secretary reiterated – that the United States stands ready to engage bilaterally and with likeminded partners, including through the role as an OSCE Minsk group co-chair to help the countries find a long-term comprehensive peace."
The diplomat was also asked about Russia's involvement in mediation efforts.
"I can’t speak to the role that Russia might play in this. What I can say is that we stand ready to engage Armenia and Azerbaijan – again, bilaterally or with likeminded partners, including through the OSCE mechanism," Price said in response.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said earlier that the U.S. and France are not informing Moscow about what they are doing on the matter.
