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The Washington talks between the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers last week “laid the groundwork” for their continuation in Brussels, Vedant Patel, Principal Deputy Spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State, told a press briefing on Thursday.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev will meet in Brussels on Sunday for a new round of talks to be hosted by European Council President Charles Michel.

Patel was asked to comment on Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova’s claims that the U.S.-hosted talks were unsuccessful.

“I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about what my Russian counterpart says from her podium. What I can say, though, is that, as it relates to this very important issue of peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan, it is something that this department will continue to remain deeply engaged on. We believe that there is a clear path forward. We obviously were happy to host these two countries at the beginning of May. We believe that those talks were fruitful and laid the groundwork for a continuation of these talks beginning in Brussels, and we’ll let that process play out,” the spokesman said.