The top Biden administration official in charge of Europe and Eurasia on Tuesday spoke about the latest military escalation on the border of Armenia and Azerbaijan, reiterating Washington’s efforts to bring the parties together.
“I think the tensions now just point to the importance of more diplomacy,” James O’Brien, assistant Secretary of State, said, adding “we’ll just continue the path of trying to bring the parties together”.
O’Brien spoke to reporters as he was on his way to Europe to accompany Secretary of State Antony Blinken this week, who will stop at the Munich Security Conference, an annual assembly of trans-Atlantic powerbrokers and geopolitical tastemakers.
Azerbaiian’s Ilham Aliyev, as well as Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan are also expected to join the event, where they last year took part in a trilateral meeting with Blinken.
The assistant secretary, when asked by TURAN, refrained from speculating on any particular engagement in Munich or other recent action.
As for Blinken’s agenda at Munich Conference, he said that throughout meetings in Munich, the Secretary will be highlighting four themes, including support for Ukraine, the Middle East, the importance of maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, as well as the importance of cooperation in international institutions and with states from around the world.’