Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday held separate telephone conversations with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan to discuss the latest military escalation in Nagorno-Karabakh.
“Secretary Blinken assured Prime Minister Pashinyan that the United States is watching the situation in and around Nagorno-Karabakh closely. He urged direct dialogue between Armenia and Azerbaijan to resolve issues related to, or resulting from, the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,” said a State Department statement.
The prime minister’s press office said that Pashinyan “expressed concern over Azerbaijan’s deviation from the provisions of the trilateral declaration of November 9, 2020 and reaffirmed the position of the Republic of Armenia on regional peace and stability.
In his conversation with Aliyev, “Blinken called for de-escalation and urged direct dialogue between Azerbaijan and Armenia to resolve issues related to, or resulting from, the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,” according to a State Department readout.