ArmInfo.The United States is discussing with Armenia and Azerbaijan the possibility of providing technical support in the issue of unblocking the region. US Ambassador to Armenia Lynne Tracy stated this to the RFE/RL's Armenian Service.
According to her, there is now a historic opportunity to make progress towards a sustainable and comprehensive peaceful resolution of a very protracted conflict. "This does not mean that it will be easy, but at the same time, we see no other alternative than to continue and support the efforts of Armenia and Azerbaijan to negotiate directly and try to reach a peaceful solution to the conflict. And we're going to focus on that. There is a lot of diplomatic involvement in this, and not just from the United States. Our partners in the European Union are as involved as others. And I think it helps a lot to keep that momentum going and to understand that these are complex issues and the solutions are not going to be easy. But we should persevere," the diplomat said, adding that now the issue of some technical assistance is being discussed with the governments of Armenia and Azerbaijan, which will help unblock transport links in the region.
Speaking about the Armenian-Turkish relations, the Ambassador stressed that the United States attaches great importance to this direction. <We welcome the steps taken by Armenia and Turkey and call on both sides to make progress. Because we see that many of these issues are ultimately interconnected, and when we see positive steps in one direction, it can give momentum for more peace in the region. I think that we should continue to try the directions that have been highlighted by Armenia and Turkey. We also saw good negotiations at the level of special representatives, as a result of which agreements were reached on the opening of some border crossing points. We have seen some arrangements for direct deliveries. The details need to be worked out, and I think this is where we will continue to encourage both Armenia and Turkey to make progress that will ultimately contribute positively to the Armenian-Azerbaijani talks," Lynne Tracy said.
