US pundit credits Azerbaijani president's Munich performance, underscores growing US interest in South Caucasus

In an exclusive comment for Azernews on the US-mediated Munich meeting between Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, US international expert Peter M. Tase credited the performance of the Azerbaijani diplomacy and the growing US interests in the South Caucasus issues.

It is fascinating what the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry has accomplished with the trilateral meeting between Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on February 18, 2023, meeting in Munich, Germany, Peter Tase said.

“The leadership and pragmatic vision of President Ilham Aliyev emerged at the center of the Munich Security Conference venue, while the Azerbaijani president defended the international security mechanism, advocated the full territorial sovereignty of Azerbaijan, and shared with Secretary Blinken the most pressing matters that affect the South Caucasus region and Europe as a whole,” he added.

The pundit also added that the US administration garnered a special interest in boosting the strategic ties with Azerbaijan.

“The US administration under the leadership of President Joe Biden has garnered a special interest in boosting the strategic ties with the government of Azerbaijan and the Biden-Harris administration has finally realized that peace, sustainable peace, and economic development will not be achieved in Europe unless a peace treaty is reached between Azerbaijan and Armenia.”

The pundit also shared his concern about the pressing mine problem on the liberated Azerbaijani lands, urging Armenia to provide Azerbaijan with maps of landmines and thus prove loyalty to striking a peace deal.

“If paramount for the United States to continue defending the territorial sovereignty and pressure Pashinyan to share with the authorities of Baku, all maps that identify the precise location of all land mines planted inside the sovereign territory of Azerbaijan during the occupation (1988-2020).”

The pundit also focused on China’s Belt & Road initiative, underscoring that Washington has finally realized the importance of taking strategic initiatives in the South Caucasus to engage the parties and bring about lasting peace, viewing the US-mediated meeting from this prism.

“Washington has finally realized that China’s massive Belt and Road initiative is a strategic competitor in Eurasia; Beijing’s rising global power and opening of various military bases abroad, in the face of these growing challenges, the Biden-Harris administration is investing and giving great importance to the strategic partnership and economic cooperation with Azerbaijan. The current trilateral meeting in Munich is the zenith of the Azerbaijani-US partnership that has materialized in Washington’s role to bring Yerevan to the table and pressure Armenia to sign the peace treaty with Azerbaijan,” he said.

The trilateral meeting in Germany will further increase trust and communications between Armenia and Azerbaijan, although Yerevan has shown revanchism and has been disloyal to the international community. On the other hand, the EU and the United States understand well the legacy of Azerbaijan and the high levels of trustworthiness that exists in the highest levels of government in Baku, he said, advising the US State Department to continue to hit the water hard to pressure the Armenian autocrats to accelerate their thought process and accept the reality on the ground; therefore to urgently sign the peace treaty with Azerbaijan and abide by international laws.

To recap, he added that the foreign policy architects of Azerbaijan embody a combination of creativity, vision, and pragmatism. Moreover, the rare statecraft and guidance of President Ilham Aliyev have made possible such an important trilateral meeting with the Armenian prime minister and the US Secretary of State to take place in Munich.