"Azerbaijan and Armenia got a historic opportunity to ensure peace and security after more than 30 years of conflict."


APA reports that Karen Donfried, the assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, said this during the hearing held at the Foreign Affairs Committee of the US House of Representatives.


"Following the intensifying military conflict in September, Azerbaijan and Armenia again focused on the peace process, especially as a historic step, they started working directly on this project.

The participation of the United States in this process plays an important role," said Donfried.


According to him, State Secretary Blinken repeatedly contacted the leadership of Azerbaijan and Armenia and organized a meeting of the heads of foreign affairs of each country:


"The Deputy Minister of Defense spoke with the Ministers of Defense of both countries, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan met with his colleagues from these two countries in Washington.

All this once again demonstrates the US administration's commitment to ensuring peace.


Karen Donfried said that the United States encourages Azerbaijan and Armenia to maintain this opportunity for negotiations to continue.


"We do it bilaterally, trilaterally and in close coordination with the EU and other partners," he stressed.


Donfried reminded that Philip Ricker, the chief advisor of the US State Department for Caucasus negotiations, recently returned from the region.


"We continue to defend the approach that the rights and security of the people of Karabakh are the main part of these discussions.


Supporting peace between Azerbaijan and Armenia is the right thing to do and is in our national security interest.

After the restoration of peace between Azerbaijan and Armenia, our cooperation will become even more important," said Donfried.