Armenia and Azerbaijan held peace talks on Monday, mediated by the United States, just hours after a fresh shootout along their troubled border in a conflict which has left hundreds dead in recent months.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken hosted the foreign ministers of the rival nations. Blinken met with Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan and Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov at Blair House, a state guest house in Washington, just weeks after the worst fighting between the two countries since a 2020 war.
"The United States is committed to the peace negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan," Blinken said before the meeting. "Direct dialogue is the best way to a truly durable peace, and we are very pleased to support that."
Blinken praised Armenia and Azerbaijan for taking "courageous steps" toward a durable peace, saying: "What we are seeing now are real steps and courageous steps by both countries to put the past behind and to work toward a durable peace."
Blinken said the talks would build on earlier discussions at the U.N. General Assembly in New York and other conversations between officials from Armenia, Azerbaijan and the United States.
"The United States as a friend to both Armenia and Azerbaijan is committed to doing everything that we can to support you in this effort," he added. The rest of the meeting was being held behind closed doors.
The two countries' leaders met late last month in the Russian Black Sea port of Sochi, along with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and agreed not to use force and to stick to earlier agreements that sought to end the fighting.
The two sides earlier in October agreed to a European Union mission alongside their shared border.
An American official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the meeting was less about peace negotiations in the full sense of the term, and more about providing an opportunity for the warring parties to meet and talk.
A week ago, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev "agreed not to use force" to resolve their dispute over the Karabakh territory, during a summit in Russia hosted by President Putin.
However, in the early hours of Monday, Azerbaijani forces opened fire on Armenian positions in the eastern sector of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, the Defense Ministry in Yerevan claimed in a statement, adding that there had been no casualties.
Meanwhile, Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry accused Armenian forces of shooting at the positions of Azerbaijani troops stationed at several locations on the frontier.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov on Monday called on both parties to "refrain from the actions and steps that could lead to an escalation of tensions."
Yerevan and Baku fought two wars over the disputed territory of Karabakh, formerly known as Nagorno-Karabakh, in the autumn of 2020 and in the 1990s.
Six weeks of fighting in 2020 claimed more than 6,500 lives before a Russian-brokered truce ended the hostilities.
Under the 2020 deal, Armenia ceded swathes of territory it had controlled for decades, and Russia stationed peacekeepers to oversee the fragile cease-fire.
There have been frequent exchanges of fire at the Caucasus neighbors' border since the 2020 war.
In September, more than 280 people from both sides were killed in new clashes.
When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, Armenian forces in Karabakh broke away from Azerbaijan. The ensuing conflict claimed around 30,000 lives.
