US State Department confirms US, EU and Russian officials met in Istanbul

US State Department Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel confirmed that US, EU and Russian officials held a meeting in Istanbul on September 17.

“The meeting in Istanbul on September 17th came together to address specifically urgent humanitarian issues and the provision of potential humanitarian aid in Nagorno-Karabakh. That’s what that meeting was about. But broadly, the U.S. remains deeply engaged on the situation and we continue to be committed to helping the parties achieve a lasting peace in the South Caucasus.

It was a meeting that took place at the working level, and again, this was a specific topic on the issue of humanitarian needs in the Nagorno-Karabakh region. That was the scope and the context of this meeting. I would not expand it or overinterpret this to mean anything else,” he said.