PanARMENIAN.Net - U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken spoke with Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev on Tuesday, April 5 and expressed his encouragement for further peace negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

According to two separate statements from the Department of State, Blinken cited Pashinyan and Aliyev’s planned meeting with European Council President Charles Michel on April 6.

"He reiterated the United States stood ready to help by engaging bilaterally and with like-minded partners, including through our role as an OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair, to help the countries find a long-term comprehensive peace," the statements said.

Pashinyan's office said in a statement of its own that the PM presented the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) caused by the actions of the Azerbaijani units, the humanitarian issues, and attached importance to a targeted reaction from the United States.

Azerbaijan has broken into Nagorno-Karabakh, and the incursion has left three Armenian soldiers dead and at least 14 others injured. On March 24, Azerbaijan stormed into the zone of the responsibility of the Russian peacekeepers stationed in the area and is refusing to completely withdraw its forces from strategic heights.

the two exchanged views on the demarcation and delimitation of borders between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the possibility of unblocking communications in the region, as well as the ongoing dialogue between Armenia and Turkey.