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US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken has offered the US to help Armenia hold peace talks with Azerbaijan, Reuters reported, citing a State Department statement.

Blinken spoke by phone with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan after a firefight broke out about two weeks ago between Azerbaijani troops and ethnic Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh, killing at least five people.

Blinken "reaffirmed US support for direct talks and diplomatic efforts for lasting and sustainable peace in the South Caucasus, stressing that there is no military solution," the State Department said in a statement.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Pashinyan have met several times in an attempt to resolve the conflict, but periodic violence has hindered the peace process, Reuters noted.

Anthony Blinken welcomed the agreement reached in Ohrid

Nagorno-Karabakh has been at the center of two wars between Armenia and Azerbaijan in the more than 30 years since the two former Soviet republics gained independence.

Russia and Armenia are officially allies by virtue of a defense treaty, but Moscow also seeks to maintain good relations with Azerbaijan, writes BTA.

The Nagorno-Karabakh region is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, but its population consists mainly of ethnic Armenians.

In December last year, Azerbaijanis posing as eco-activists began a blockade of the Lachin Corridor, the only road connecting Armenia with Nagorno-Karabakh.

Armenia claims that the blockade has led to shortages in food and medicine supplies, and that the protesters are agitators supported by the Azerbaijani government.

Azerbaijan denies these claims, arguing that the protesters are campaigning against illegal Armenian mining.