The US is doing everything to bring the parties together under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group, US Ambassador to Armenia Lynne Tracy told reporters in Yerevan today.

She noted that the fundamental issues of peace and security require negotiation and diplomacy.

“Secretary Blinken has made our commitment to this process very clear on several occasions,” Amb. Tracy emphasized.

“It’s obviously a very tough environment, 30 years of war and tensions are not going to be resolved overnight, but we understand that there are some fundamental issues that have to be addressed, and one of them is that we do not consider the status of Karabakh resolved,” the Ambassador added.

She noted that the US will continue to keep that on the agenda of the Minsk Group.

Asked about the perspectives of dialogue, Amb. Tracy noted: ” I don’t want to speak for the parties. The Government of Armenia has made clear that the issue of prisoners held by Azerbaijan is to be resolved before it’s possible to talk about wider issues.”

“As you know, the United States has made efforts in this regard, our Russian colleagues have made efforts in this regard with some success. We hope to get to a place where we have all the prisoners returned, and it is certainly the call that we have been making,” she added.

She noted that there is no perfect platform, but the Minsk Group is a platform that has a mandate and legitimacy and can still play a role in the process.