The presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan demonstrated a political will to move beyond the status quo and to take steps that can benefit all the people in the region, US Department of State Spokesperson John Kirby stated at Tuesday’s press briefing.

He noted this reflecting on Monday’s talk in Vienna between Presidents Serzh Sargsyan and Ilham Aliyev of Armenia and Azerbaijan, respectively.

“Both presidents committed themselves to respect the ceasefire, to put in place important confidence-building measures, and to begin negotiations next month that can lead to a comprehensive settlement,” Kirby said. “They demonstrated what we believe to be political will to move beyond the status quo and to take steps that can benefit all the people in the region. And so as the [US] Secretary [of State] made clear, the United States, for our part, will stand ready to assist them in that regard whatever they – in whatever way they can.

“So look, it was a positive meeting and a step in the right direction. And now everybody has to do the hard work of implementing the things that they committed to.”

A reporter recalled that Armenia and Karabakh have been open to the idea of installing gun detectors, whereas Azerbaijan has flatly rejected this proposal.

Kirby, however, did not wish to elaborate on the aforementioned, and noted: “I simply would point you back to the joint statement that was issued yesterday [i.e. Monday] in which both presidents acknowledged a commitment to the ceasefire and to moving the process forward and to starting to have more discussions next month, which we think is a positive development.”