US continues to encourage Azerbaijan, Armenia to reach peace deal

The US said Wednesday it continues to encourage Azerbaijan and Armenia to reach a peace deal.

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken believes "peace is within reach" after meeting separately last week with the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.

"And he discussed that directly with the leaders of both of those countries and encouraged them to work together to bridge what ultimately are just remaining few issues," said Miller.

"We will continue to encourage those countries to reach a peace agreement," he said, "We will continue to offer the assistance and the support of the United States in reaching an agreement."

Blinken and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz held separate meetings with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on the sidelines of the Conference.

During the meetings, Blinken discussed "efforts to reach a durable and dignified peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan," according to a State Department readout of the meetings.

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

Azerbaijan liberated most of the region during a war in the fall of 2020, which ended with a Russian-brokered peace agreement, opening the door to normalization.

Baku initiated an anti-terrorism operation in Karabakh last September to establish constitutional order, after which illegal separatist forces in the region surrendered.