Azerbaijan and Armenia have made "tangible progress," and an agreement is "within sight" in U.S.-hosted peace talks on resolving tensions between the two former Soviet republics, a senior official said Thursday.
"The two sides have discussed some very tough issues over the last few days, and they've made tangible progress on a durable peace agreement," Secretary of State Antony Blinken said wrapping up the talks.
The four-day negotiating session did not produce a peace agreement, but Blinken said he believed a deal could be "within sight, within reach" and praised the two sides for coming together to try to find common ground.
He said reaching an agreement would be "not only historic but would be profoundly in the interests of the people of Azerbaijan and Armenia and would have very positive effects even beyond their two countries."
The closed-door discussions were held far from the media spotlight at the State Department’s Foreign Service Institute in northern Virginia. The Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers, who led their delegations, did not speak at the closing ceremony.
Blinken acknowledged the ongoing difficulties in the final stages of any prospective agreement, saying: "The last mile of any marathon is always the hardest," but vowed to ensure the U.S.'s assistance "to continue to help both of our friends cross the finish line."
In near-identical statements issued following the talks, Baku and Yerevan acknowledged the progress but said more work lies ahead.
"The ministers and their teams advanced mutual understanding on some articles of the draft bilateral Agreement on Peace and Establishment of Interstate Relations, meanwhile acknowledging that the positions on some key issues remain divergent," the statements said.
"Both Ministers expressed their appreciation to the U.S. side for hosting negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The parties agreed to continue the discussions," they added.
Relations between the two former Soviet republics have been tense since 1991 when the Armenian military occupied Karabakh, which is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, and seven adjacent regions.
Most of the territory was liberated by Baku during a war in the fall of 2020 which ended after a Russian-brokered peace agreement and opened the door to normalization.
However, the establishment of a checkpoint on the border between Azerbaijan and Armenia in the South Caucasus region last month sparked tensions.
The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said the border checkpoint was created in response to security threats from Armenia, citing the transfer of weapons and ammunition to the Karabakh region. Yerevan denied the charges.
Washington said previously that it was "deeply concerned" by Azerbaijan establishing a checkpoint on the Lachin corridor.
U.S. engagement in the conflict could be seen as a challenge to Russia’s influence in an area it regards as being within its sphere of influence.
Although Russia brokered the last significant deal between the two sides and now maintains troops in Karabakh, it has been more recently preoccupied with the conflict in Ukraine.