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We would like to see the parties commit themselves or recommit themselves to the 1994 ceasefire agreement, spokesperson of the US State Department John Kirby told at a special briefing devoted to the Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict held in Vienna on Monday.

According to the US official, both Armenia and Azerbaijan  “acknowledge that the ceasefire remains in place; and this will be an opportunity tonight to recommit themselves to respecting that ceasefire.”

“We also believe it’s necessary, given the volatility of the situation along the line of contact, to work towards certain confidence-building measures, and we’d like to see an outcome where the presidents agree to take certain steps that can reduce tensions along the line of contact,” Kirby stressed, according to the readout of the briefing posted on the website of the State Department.

With this regard, Kirby emphasized that monitoring missions held two or three times a month are not sufficient. “We’d like to see more monitoring missions in more geographic areas. And if the sides would agree to that, that could be very helpful.  We’d like to have a monitoring mission with the kinds of tools that could identify who – where and when and who is involved when violence breaks out.”

Notably, the US official stated that Azerbaijan is the side, which rejects the idea of confidence-building measures: “They [Azerbaijan] have been opposed to additional monitors. They opposed any confidence-building measures that they believe perpetuates the status quo. That said, we want to take up these confidence-building and humanitarian measures tonight and see if Azerbaijan can agree to some of them,” Kirby said.