Matthew Miller, US State Department spokesperson referred to the latest calls by Secretary Antony Blinken with Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev and Armenian-US drills.
“Secretary spoke with the leaders of both Armenia and Azerbaijan over the weekend while he was traveling – one call from New Delhi, one call from Hanoi.
It is a – and I think I’ll speak directly to the situation, because it is something that the Secretary has personally been involved in while he was on international travel and, of course, the Acting Assistant Secretary Kim has been involved in, and others. We are deeply concerned about the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation in Nagorno-Karabakh. We repeat our call, as the Secretary did in a statement over the weekend, for the immediate and simultaneous opening of the Lachin and Aghdam routes to allow passage of desperately needed humanitarian supplies to the men and women and children in Nagorno-Karabakh. We urge the leaders, as the Secretary did in his calls, against taking any actions that raise tensions or distract from this goal.
And I will say, in addition, we have consistently stressed this need for open – to open routes in Nagorno-Karabakh and for a dialogue between the parties. While it is important that Nagorno-Karabakh have credible representatives for this process, as we have said in the past, we do not recognize Nagorno-Karabakh as an independent and sovereign state, and therefore we do not recognize the results of those so-called presidential elections that were announced over the last few days.
So I will say that the United States will continue to strongly support efforts by Armenia and Azerbaijan to resolve outstanding issues through direct dialogue, and that’s why Secretary Blinken and Senior Advisor for Caucasus Negotiations Lou Bono have been consistently engaged, and we will stay consistently engaged on this question”, he said.
QUESTION: The department did have a chance to disclose that meeting, that phone call on September 5th, when I did ask, in fact, a question about interaction between the U.S. and both sides. One more point about that readout. You guys – since I mentioned human rights, let me ask you directly. Are you guys sacrificing human rights for peace talks? If so, are there concerns that you might not achieve anything?
MR. MILLER: Sacrificing human rights? I just made very clear that we want both quarters to be reopened to deliver much-needed humanitarian assistance into Nagorno-Karabakh, and the Secretary made that clear to the leaders of both Armenia and Azerbaijan over the weekend, as have other representatives from the State Department and the United States Government. So no, I would not agree to that characterization at all.
QUESTION: But did he mention human rights situation in Azerbaijan, the case of Gubad Ibadoghlu and other (inaudible) you guys have raised —
MR. MILLER: I don’t have a specific readout on that. These calls were about the crisis situation on the ground right now and trying to resolve it.
QUESTION: I have one more question. Today, the – in Armenia, the first U.S.-Armenian military exercise are taking place, and I was wondering if this is designed to somehow forestall a potential Azerbaijani attack. Are you – is there any —
MR. MILLER: No, not at all. We routinely train and operate alongside our partners to maintain readiness, and we continually – continuously improve on the interoperability between our armed forces. Armenia is a longstanding partner to the United States and has an enduring relationship since 2003 with the Kansas National Guard as part of the Department of Defense’s State Partnership Program. So no, this is in – this is a routine exercise that is in no way tied to any other events.
