The US State Department calls on the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to agree on distancing their armed forces from the border. Vedant Patel, Principal Deputy Spokesperson of the US Department of State, stated this at Thursday’s Department press briefing, commenting on the recent escalation of tension on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border.

“This kind of violence [on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border], we believe it undermines the progress made by Armenia and Azerbaijan toward a durable and dignified peace, and we call on the leaders of both of these countries that when they convene in Brussels on the 14th to a—that these two parties agree to distance their forces along the border, as discussed by [US] Secretary [of State Antony] Blinken during their participation of these negotiations that we hosted here in Washington, D.C., at the beginning of May,” Patel said. 

Regarding the negotiations held in Washington, Patel said they were "important, positive steps."

According to him, “the two countries had the opportunity to engage on some important issues, see the other side’s point of view."

“And we believe that there continues to be a durable path forward. We believe that there is a peaceful solution to this. It’s why we, from the Secretary on down, have continued to be so deeply engaged on this,” Patel added.

And to the question as to whether the Secretary of State views “the upcoming meeting on the 14th [of May] as a continuation of Washington dialogue or that was a separate track,” the principal deputy spokesperson of the US State Department said that he is “not going to get ahead of these talks themselves.”