State Department responds to Russian Foreign Ministry: US ready to promote peace in South Caucasus in any format

YEREVAN, February 11. /ARKA/. 'Promoting peace in the South Caucasus remains an enduring priority for not just this administration, but by Secretary Blinken, in particular, as evidenced by his direct outreach and engagement on these issues directly with leaders in Armenia and Azerbaijan,' Vedant Patel, principal deputy spokesperson for U.S. Department of State, told a February 10 press briefing.

Patel's comment came after  Russian counterpart Zakharova lambasted the Washington and Brussels peacemaking efforts in the South Caucasus, saying that they seek to derail the implementations of trilateral agreements that Russia signed with Azerbaijani, Armenian leaders.

'And this is something that we are going to continue to stay focused on. Russian aggression and unilateralism have undermined a number of lines of efforts, undermined a number of prospects for productive work in the Minsk Group format,' he added.

He said also that the U.S. remains firmly committed to engagement on any and all avenues for the promotion of peace, whether that be bilaterally, whether that be through mechanisms within the EU, whether that be via the OSCE.

'And like I said, promoting peace in the South Caucasus remains an enduring priority for us.' -0-