Vedant Patel, Principal Deputy Spokesperson referred to the possible talks between Armenian and Azerbaijani Foreign Ministers in Washington, during his regular press briefing.
“We look forward to hosting another round of talks in Washington soon as the parties continue to pursue a peaceful future in the South Caucasus region. We continue to believe direct dialogue is key to resolving issues and reaching a durable and dignified peace, and that also, Alex, I think answers your first question on this, is that we continue to believe that steps that are going to incite tensions and elevate tensions are certainly unproductive right now as talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan are proceeding in different venues. And so we’ll continue to engage on this and look forward to hosting another round of talks very soon”, Patel said.
He also touched upon the criticism from Moscow saying that Washington’s efforts are saying that it’s all about squeezing Russia out of the region.
“If Russia thinks that they can play a constructive role in this, certainly they are welcome to, but we continue to feel that these talks are progressing, they’re proceeding. The United States has been an important partner in this. The Secretary personally has been engaged on this. I know, Alex, you’ve worked on this issue and followed it very closely and are aware of the number of engagements that have happened both at the Secretary’s level and at the working level, and this is all reflective of the fact that we think direct dialogue is key to resolving this issue and reaching a durable and dignified peace. And we also continue to think that dialogue can’t be replaced in this process”, Patel answered.
