Bayramov: Baku and Yerevan 'made a step forward' at U.S.-hosted talks
Azerbaijan's Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov on Wednesday said the process of normalization of ties with Armenia moved “one step forward” in the U.S. last week, Azerbaijani media reported.
Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan and his Azerbaijani counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov held four days of peace talks in the US capital between April 30 and May 3, with meetings at the White House and State Department.
In a statement after the meetings, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken had said, "both demonstrated a sincere commitment to normalizing relations and ending the long-standing conflict between their two countries," adding that "with additional goodwill, flexibility, and compromise, an agreement is within reach."
"We had quite intensive discussions about the peace treaty for 4 days in Washington. They covered a number of important issues. We cannot talk about full agreement, there are enough differences between the positions of the Azerbaijani and Armenian parties," Bayramov told reporters in Baku.
He also noted that agreement was reached on certain paragraphs of the peace treaty during the negotiations. "We have taken another step forward. Likewise, we must approach this process realistically. It would be good to coordinate all the issues at one meeting, but there is no readiness for this yet," he said.
Related news
- Armenia, Azerbaijan made significant progress on difficult issues – U.S. State Dept
- Peace deal between Armenia, Azerbaijan 'within reach', Blinken says
- Armenian, Azerbaijani positions on some key issues 'remain divergent' – Foreign Ministry