Blinken urges de-escalation in separate phone calls with Azerbaijani, Armenian leaders

By Iclal Turan

NEW YORK (AA) - US Secretary of State Antony Blinken held separate phone calls Tuesday with Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev and Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to discuss tensions in Karabakh.

In the phone call with Aliyev, Blinken urged Azerbaijan to "cease military actions in Nagorno-Karabakh immediately and deescalate the situation," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement.

"The Secretary emphasized that there is no military solution and that the parties must resume dialogue to resolve outstanding differences between Baku and ethnic Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh," Miller said.

"The Secretary noted President Aliyev’s expressed readiness to halt military actions and for representatives of Azerbaijan and the population of Nagorno-Karabakh to meet, and he underscored the need for immediate implementation," he added.

In the phone call with Pashinyan, Blinken "expressed the United States’ deep concern for the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh and underscored that the United States is calling on Azerbaijan to immediately cease hostilities and return to dialogue immediately," Miller said.

"He told Prime Minister Pashinyan the United States fully supports Armenia’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity," he added.

The calls came as Azerbaijan said on Tuesday that it had launched "counter-terrorism" measures in Karabakh to uphold provisions outlined in a trilateral peace agreement with Russia and Armenia to end the 2020 conflict.

Relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia have been tense since 1991, when the Armenian military occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, and seven adjacent regions.

In the fall of 2020, Azerbaijan liberated several cities, villages and settlements from Armenian occupation during 44 days of clashes. The war ended with a Russia-brokered cease-fire.

Tensions between the two nations, however, continue despite ongoing talks aiming for a long-term peace agreement.