There is a painful history of decades in relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan, both the Armenian and Azerbaijani sides have understandable concerns, and the US notes a lack of trust between these two countries. Karen Donfried, the US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, told about this to the Armenian service of Voice of America.

She noted that the Armenian-Azerbaijani negotiation process, which is one of the matters on the agenda of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, includes discussions on many complicated issues, including a peace treaty, border delimitation, and reopening of transport links between the two countries.

Donfried stated that the US supports direct dialogue between the two parties and emphasizes its necessity because only in this way, according to her, it is possible to achieve the settlement of the above-mentioned complicated issues.

The assistant secretary of state noted that the US believes that both Armenia and Azerbaijan are deeply committed to this process, the US is ready to help in any way—and acknowledging that the hard decisions that must be made to achieve peace must be made in Yerevan and Baku.

According to a high-ranking American diplomat, the problems between Armenia and Azerbaijan cannot have a military solution, the only way is a diplomatic settlement through the peace process, and the US would not like to see any escalation of the situation.

The US does not see a military solution to the situation between the two countries and will continue to be engaged diplomatically as it has been; first, to make sure there is no escalation, and second, to help encourage positive progress, Donfried said.

Also, US assistant secretary of state expressed gratitude to the EU for deploying a civilian monitoring mission to Armenia's border with Azerbaijan, and added that this is an initiative that the US fully supports.