The foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia met on Monday in New York for the first time following recent deadly clashes in the border region that cost the lives of at least 200 people.
State Department spokesperson Ned Price said the meeting between U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan and Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov represented the first direct talks between representatives of the two countries since fighting restarted early last week.
"Blinken conveyed condolences for the lives lost and emphasized the need to prevent further hostilities, underscoring the importance of returning to the peace process," Price said in a statement.
"They discussed next steps, and the Secretary encouraged the sides to meet again before the end of the month."
In the meeting, held within the framework of the U.N. General Assembly, Mirzoyan called for Azerbaijani armed forces to “withdraw from Armenian territory” and for "international mechanisms" to be introduced "to prevent further escalations," according to an Armenian Foreign Ministry statement.
A statement from Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry on the other side said that Bayramov drew attention to Baku’s position on ensuring peace in the region in the post-conflict period and necessary steps in this direction.
“Minister Jeyhun Bayramov emphasized that on September 12-14, Armenia caused clashes by carrying out provocations and attacks against Azerbaijan, and the fact that Armenia violated the initial ceasefire achieved within a few hours, and thereby caused additional losses. He said that Azerbaijan, as a party that carries out large-scale reconstruction works in the region and resettles former internally displaced persons in the region, is not interested in destabilization,” the ministry added.
The trilateral meeting was held shortly after a visit by U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi to the Armenian capital Yerevan, which she said had been planned before the current outbreak of hostilities.
During her visit, Pelosi condemned what she called Azerbaijan's attacks on its neighbor, prompting Baku to describe her remarks as "groundless and unfair accusations."
Meanwhile, Armenia on Monday said that 207 of its soldiers were either killed or went missing during clashes with Azerbaijan.
"Three civilians were killed, two others are considered missing, 293 servicemen and 3 civilians were wounded, and 20 servicemen were captured," Armenia's Security Council said in a statement after a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian.
Baku has accused Yerevan of "large-scale provocations," saying saboteurs planted mines and Armenian forces carried out "intensive" firing on Azerbaijani positions.
Türkiye reiterated its support to Azerbaijan, calling on Armenia to remain committed to the agreement that ended the armed conflict in 2020.
Relations between the former Soviet republics of Armenia and Azerbaijan have been tense since 1991 when the Armenian military illegally occupied Karabakh, a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, and seven adjacent regions.
Clashes erupted on Sept. 27, 2020, with the Armenian Army attacking civilians and Azerbaijani forces, violating several humanitarian cease-fire agreements.
During the 44-day conflict, Azerbaijan liberated several cities and around 300 settlements and villages that had been occupied by Armenia for almost 30 years.
The fighting ended with a Russian-brokered agreement on Nov. 10, 2020, which was seen as a victory for Azerbaijan and a defeat for Armenia.
However, the cease-fire has been broken several times since then.
In January 2021, the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a pact to develop economic ties and infrastructure to benefit the entire region. It also included the establishment of a trilateral working group in Karabakh.
