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The United States looks forward to hosting fresh peace talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan, U.S. Department of State principal deputy spokesman Vedant Patel said on Wednesday.

“So we look forward to hosting another round of talks in Washington soon as the parties continue to pursue a peaceful future in the South Caucasus region. We continue to believe direct dialogue is key to resolving issues and reaching a durable and dignified peace,” he told a press briefing.

“We continue to believe that steps that are going to incite tensions and elevate tensions are certainly unproductive right now as talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan are proceeding in different venues. And so we’ll continue to engage on this and look forward to hosting another round of talks very soon,” Patel said, responding to a question about reports of recent tensions on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border.

Asked to comment on Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's statement, who downplayed Washington's mediating efforts claiming that it is all about “squeezing Russia out of the region”, the spokesman said: “If Russia thinks that they can play a constructive role in this, certainly they are welcome to, but we continue to feel that these talks are progressing, they’re proceeding. The United States has been an important partner in this. The Secretary personally has been engaged on this... We think direct dialogue is key to resolving this issue and reaching a durable and dignified peace. And we also continue to think that dialogue can’t be replaced in this process.”