Azerbaijani FM, senior US official mull Karabakh peace deal

By Azernews

By Vafa Ismayilova

Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov and US Acting Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Philip Reeker have discussed the implementation of November 10 Karabakh peace deal in a phone conversation, the ministry reported on February 8.

The two men also discussed the January 11 meeting of the Azerbaijani, Armenian and Russian leaders held in Moscow.

Bayramov and Reeker also focused on other issues of mutual interest during the phone conversation.

A Moscow-brokered ceasefire deal that Baku and Yerevan signed on November 10 brought an end to six weeks of fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The Azerbaijani army declared a victory against the Armenian troops. The signed agreement obliged Armenia to withdraw its troops from the Azerbaijani lands that it has occupied since the early 1990s.

On January 11, the Azerbaijani, Russian and Armenian leaders signed the second statement since the end of the 44-day war. The newly-signed statement is set to implement clause 9 of the November 2020 statement related to the unblocking of all economic and transport communications in the region. 

It should be noted that U.S. Ambassador Earle Litzenberger on January 27 congratulated Azerbaijan on the restoration of its territorial integrity and expressed the U.S. readiness to participate in the restoration of the lands liberated from Armenia's occupation.