(VOVWORLD) -US Secretary of State Antony Blinken began closed-door negotiations with the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan at the State Department office outside Washington on Tuesday.
 US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (Photo: AFP/VNA) |
This is the second round of talks that he chaired in recent months in the latest attempt to end the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The US-brokered peace talks are expected to take place over three days.
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said the US government believes that peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan will soon be obtained and direct dialogue is the key to resolving pending issues and achieving long-term peace.
Secretary of the Armenian Security Council Armen Grigoryan said that there is an opportunity for Yerevan and Baku to sign a peace agreement by the end of this year to end several decades of conflict.
Russia, the US, and the EU back the building a lasting peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan, which have bogged down in territorial conflict over the Nagorny-Karabakh region for 30 years.