Senior US Diplomat to Discuss Yerevan-Baku Normalization With Armenian Officials - Embassy

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Karen Donfried is travelling to Armenia on Saturday to discuss the process of normalizing relations with neighbouring Azerbaijan in the last leg of her South Caucasus tour, the US embassy in Yerevan said.

"The U.S. Embassy to Armenia welcomes Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Karen Donfried to Yerevan. During her visit on June 18, Assistant Secretary Donfried will meet with government officials, including Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. Assistant Secretary Donfried will discuss U.S. support for the diplomatic efforts between Armenia and Azerbaijan towards a lasting peace," the embassy said in a statement.

The US diplomat also wants to discuss with Armenian officials "our strong partnership, based on shared values, and our mutual commitment to Armenia’s democratic development," the statement read.

Donfried is on a six-day official visit to the South Caucasus region that started on June 14 and will last until June 19. On June 15, she payed a two-day visit to Azerbaijan, which was followed by a visit to Georgia on June 17.

Yerevan and Baku fought a 44-day war over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh in fall of 2020, the biggest escalation of a decades-long conflict around pursuit of independence of the Armenian-populated exclave inside Azerbaijan. Hostilities ended with a Russian-mediated declaration of ceasefire in November of that year and deployment of Russian peacekeepers. Armenia and Azerbaijan are now trying to delimit the bilateral border, which has caused mass opposition protests in Armenia and calls on the prime minister to step down.