10:47, 3 March 2023

YEREVAN, MARCH 3, ARMENPRESS. The United States Senior Advisor for Caucasus Negotiations Louis Bono will be traveling to Armenia and the other countries in the region next week, the US State Department announced.

State Department spokesperson Ned Price said Bono will kick off his regional trip – the first since taking office on February 1 – from Azerbaijan and will then travel to Armenia and Georgia.

“The Senior Advisor for Caucasus Negotiations [Louis] Bono is traveling to the region next week on his first trip in this role. This is the first of what we will – what we expect will be regular travel to all three countries of the South Caucasus. Mr. Bono plans to meet with senior leaders to support the Armenia-Azerbaijan peace process and our sustained commitment to Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. As I mentioned before, he will visit all three South Caucasus countries as part of his visit. He’ll travel to Baku, to Yerevan, Tbilisi as well, in that order. This, we believe, will be an opportunity for Mr. Bono to build on the meeting between Secretary Blinken, Armenia’s prime minister, and Azerbaijan’s president at the Munich Security Conference a couple of weeks ago now, in mid-February. We – as we said at the conclusion of that trilateral engagement, we are encouraged by recent efforts by Armenia and Azerbaijan to engage productively on the peace process. And Mr. Bono hopes to be in a position to build on that effort, and to see that progress continue. In all three of these cities, Mr. Bono will emphasize the United States is committed to promoting a peaceful, democratic, and prosperous future for the South Caucasus region,” Price said at a press briefing.