On May 1, the meeting between the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan and the US State Secretary Antony Blinken took place in Washington DC, the Armenian FM reports. 

During the meeting, the sides discussed issues concerning regional stability and security and the ongoing process of normalizing relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Additionally, they addressed the humanitarian situation that resulted from the Azerbaijani blockade of the Lachin corridor.

The meeting was followed by trilateral talks that would be held over the course of a few days.

According to reports, United States officials hope to achieve peace in the South Caucasus as the top diplomatic representatives from Armenia and Azerbaijan began the marathon talks in Washington. 

Vedant Patel, the principal deputy spokesperson at the Department of State, elaborated on the US perspective regarding the chances of achieving peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

“We believe that peace is possible between these two countries, and we are glad to be welcoming them,” Patel said during a press briefing on May 1. 

“We think that direct dialogue through diplomacy is key here…This is something that the Secretary has been deeply engaged in; he’s had the opportunity to convene trilateral meetings as well as speak to the foreign ministers and leaders of these two countries. And we will continue to be engaged on this issue,” he added.

As one of the officials told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service, the situation around the Lachin Corridor, the only road linking Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia that Azerbaijan closed on April 23 by setting up a checkpoint, was one of the topics raised at the Washington meetings. 

Another Round of Talks to be held in Moscow 

According to pro-government MP Arman Yeghoyan, Armenia’s Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan and his Azerbaijani counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov are expected to have talks in Moscow soon. 

“As per a preliminary agreement, Moscow is also set to host a meeting of the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers,” Yeghoyan, an MP from the ruling Civil Contract party, told reporters. 

He emphasized that the Washington talks don’t contradict the upcoming meeting in Moscow.

“Armenia has high expectations for the negotiations. They will cover the entire spectrum of Armenian-Azerbaijani relations, all outstanding issues, and everything will be done to reach agreements on all these issues,” Yeoyan said.

Speaking about the efforts of the Armenian side on the Karabakh issue, the MP stated that the Armenian side is currently making efforts to enable the Baku-Stepanakert dialogue and to have Stepanakert as a participant in the negotiations.

Meanwhile, the Russian president’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov told the reporters that there are no other legal frameworks to resolve the situation in Karabakh except for the trilateral arrangements involving Russia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. 

“The solution of the existing problems between the two countries [Armenia and Azerbaijan] and the possible development of some joint actions aimed at easing the tension in the region are, first of all, of course, possible based on the tripartite documents that were signed together with Russia. There are no other legal grounds yet that would contribute to the settlement [of the situation in Karabakh],” he noted. 

Peskov also stressed that any attempts to undermine the foundations of the settlement are not welcome.