U.S. speaks about "pressure on Azerbaijan" in interests of Armenia

Azerbaijan and Armenia may soon reach the peace agreement, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said. 

According to Anthony Blinken, now there is a favorable moment to suit the interests of both countries. However, speaking about the the Lachin road protest, the Secretary of State promised to continue to put pressure on Azerbaijan.

"I do not want to exaggerate it, but I think there is an opportunity to actually complete the preparation of this peace agreement," Blinken said.

The diplomat recalled that he met with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan during the Munich Security Conference in 2023. Blinken also noted that the FMs of the two countries were recently in Washington and worked on the text of that peace agreement, so he expects that they will return.

U.S. assistance to post-war settlement

According to the U.S. Secretary of State, he actively deals with the issue of settlement between Baku and Yerevan, helping the parties reach a peace agreement that will normalize relations between the states, as well as refer to the "rights and protection of ethnic Armenians in Karabakh", border delimitation, etc.

The diplomat noted the U.S. doesn't impose this on Armenia, Washington is responding to the great desire expressed by Yerevan to see if they can help them reach an agreement that would at least largely end the more than 30-year "conflict".

At the same time, the official recalled "the real problems" in the Lachin corridor. 

"I am putting pressure on Azerbaijan, including this week, to reopen this corridor. We are working on it," Blinken said.

He also believes that now there is a favorable moment which will "deeply suit" the interests of Armenia, as well as Azerbaijan.