US to work with partners on international monitoring mission in Artsakh

Azerbaijan will welcome an international monitoring mission in Artsakh and we will work with our partners and allies in this direction, US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said at a briefing on Wednesday.

“I would say a few things. Number one, as you noted, Samantha Power, the USAID administrator, and Acting Assistant Secretary Yuri Kim are in Azerbaijan today, where they stressed a number of things, the same things that the Secretary stressed in his conversation with President Aliyev yesterday and that I reiterated at the podium, which is that, number one, we want to see the ceasefire maintained; number two, we want to see humanitarian needs addressed; that means keeping the Lachin corridor open, it means ensuring that humanitarian supplies can come in, and that it means an international monitoring mission to ensure that humanitarian needs are addressed.

We did welcome the comments by the Government of Azerbaijan just a little while ago before I came out to this podium, that they would welcome such an international monitoring mission. That’s something that the Secretary had directly pushed the president for, and we’re glad to see his having agreed to it, and we will work with our allies and partners in the coming days to flesh out exactly what that mission will look like,” he said.

Miller stressed the importance of returning to the negotiating table to achieve a dignified, lasting peace.

“The Secretary has been having direct conversations with the president of Azerbaijan, the prime minister of Armenia. We’ve had a number of officials travel to the region – not just in the past week or 10 days since hostilities broke out but going back months and months and months.

We have done everything we can to pursue diplomacy, but ultimately, remember, it’s up to the two parties here who are the parties that have direct disagreements,” he added.

Miller also commented on Russia’s role over the past week.

“I certainly do not think Russia has played a productive role here in the past week. We have seen them at times – there have been times where they facilitated negotiations, and that was something that we welcomed; but certainly in the last week their role has not been productive in this situation,” he said.

When asked about the arrest of former State Minister of Artsakh Ruben Vardanyan by the Azerbaijani authorities, Miller noted that the US was closely monitoring the situation.

“We are aware of the arrest. We’re closely monitoring the situation,” Miller said.