Tuesday, July 2 2024 11:49

ArmInfo. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday said a peace agreement between Azerbaijan  and Armenia is achievable.

"I was speaking just about a week ago to (Azerbaijani) President  (Ilham) Aliyev on this I think that's achievable, and it's manifestly  in the interests of both Azerbaijan and Armenia, as well as the  broader region," Blinken said in remarks at the Brookings Institution  in Washington, DC.

In response to a question, Blinken said there is an "extraordinary  opportunity, potential" to realize a peace agreement between the two  countries to end decades of conflict and create an opportunity for  economic connectivity and growth in the region.

"Azerbaijan has a critical role to play in that. We have invested  intensely in our own diplomacy in trying to help bring Azerbaijan and  Armenia to a peace agreement, we've done that in very close  collaboration and coordination with the European Union, and I think  that's something that really is within reach," he added.

Blinken's remarks came after Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat  Mirzoyan said last week that his nation is ready to sign a peace  treaty with Azerbaijan.

Speaking at a news conference in Armenia's capital Yerevan, Mirzoyan  said a treaty may be drafted within a month.

The US has invited the two southern Caucasus nations to the July 9-11  NATO summit in Washington, which marks the 75th anniversary of the  Western security alliance.

"US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is hosting an event for all of  NATO's partners.  That includes Armenia and Azerbaijan, so we expect  them both to attend it. That's the foreign ministerial level. So they  will attend along with the other, a total of 30 partners," Jim  O'Brien, top US diplomat for Europe and Eurasia, told a Friday a  press conference in Baku, Azerbaijan's capital.

Relations between Baku and Yerevan have been tense since 1991, when  the Armenian military occupied Karabakh, a territory internationally  recognized as part of Azerbaijan, and seven adjacent regions.