U.S. Department of State calls on Armenian, Azerbaijani leaders to  agree to distance their forces along border

ArmInfo.The U.S. Department of State is calling of the Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders to agree to  distance their forces along the border, Mr Vedant Patel, Principal Deputy Spokesperson, told a briefing as he commented on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border escalation. 

"This kind of violence, 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 Secretary  Blinken during their participation of these negotiations that we  hosted here in Washington, D.C., at the beginning of May," he said. 

As to whether the U.S. Secretary views the upcoming meeting as a  continuation of Washington dialogue or that was a separate track, Mr  Patel said: 

"We see the dialogue that we hosted as important, positive steps in  which we felt 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. But I'm not  going to get ahead of these talks themselves."

As to his Russian counterpart questioning the U.S. Secretary's  optimism on the results of Washington talks, Mr Patel said:

"I don't spend a lot of time thinking about what my Russian  counterpart says from her podium. What I can say, though, is that, as  it relates to this very important issue of peace between Armenia and  Azerbaijan, it is something that this department will continue to  remain deeply engaged on. We believe that there is a clear path  forward. We obviously were happy to host these two countries at the  beginning of May. We believe that those talks were fruitful and laid  the groundwork for a continuation of these talks beginning in  Brussels, and we'll let that process play out."