U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken made a phone call to President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev on November 27.
During the telephone conversation, the Azerbaijani head of state said that the latest statements and actions taken by the U.S. have seriously damaged Azerbaijan-U.S. relations.
Ilham Aliyev recalled the remarks made by the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State James O’Brien at the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Subcommittee on Europe hearing on November 15, 2023, noting they were biased, failed to reflect reality and were rejected by Azerbaijan.
"It was emphasized that Azerbaijani side took note of the statement about canceling the senior-level engagements with Azerbaijan and “no chance of business as usual”, and responded adequately," the statement reads.
The Azerbaijani President reminded that Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement on this matter on 16 November, and that Azerbaijan had in its turn canceled all senior-level visits from the U.S.
"Secretary Blinken has asked to allow the visit of the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State James O’Brien in December to Azerbaijan. President Ilham Aliyev has agreed to this proposal on the condition that after this visit the unfounded ban on the visits of Azerbaijani high-level officials to the United States will be lifted. Secretary Blinken has accepted that," the Azerbaijani presidential press service said.
Armenia-Azerbaijan peace settlement
Ilham Aliyev noted that Armenia sent its comments with regard to Azerbaijan’s proposals on the text of peace treaty on November 21, which was submitted on September 11, 2023. Thus, Armenia has delayed its response for 70 days. Thus, 70 day long delay demonstrates again that Armenia misuses the text of the peace treaty as a pretext for the prolongation negotiations process.
During the telephone conversation the sides also exchanged views with respect to the upcoming meeting of the Commissions on the delimitation of the state borders which will take place on November 30 at the Azerbaijan-Armenia conditional border.
