During Tuesday’s department press briefing, Vedant Patel, Principal Deputy Spokesperson of the US Department of State, answered also the questions about the ongoing negotiations in Washington between the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan, the VOA Armenian Service reports.

Patel said the State Department did not have any additional information to provide at this time, but emphasized the importance of direct dialogue between the parties to reach a settlement, and stressed that the US remains committed to the peace process and promoting a peaceful future in the South Caucasus.

In response to a reporter's question about who is included in the ongoing negotiations in Washington, the principal deputy spokesperson of the State Department said: “I will let these two countries speak to their own delegations. But we obviously have had a number of officials from the US side deeply engaged on this. Obviously, Senior Advisor for Caucasus Negotiations Lou Bono has been deeply engaged in this not just through these meetings but through his continued engagement in the South Caucuses. You know that Secretary [of State Antony] Blinken attended the plenary session yesterday morning and had the opportunity to host these ministers for a dinner Sunday night. And so it’s something that we will continue to be deeply engaged on.”

Patel, however, did not respond to the question as to whether Secretary of State Blinken was still trying to meet with the Armenian and Azerbaijani FMs, and noted: “I don’t want to get ahead of the schedule this week.”

Also, principal deputy spokesperson of the State Department did not provide any comments regarding the possible results and expectations of the ongoing negotiations, and said: “We’re going to let this process play out before offering any comment or punditry, if you will.”