WASHINGTON, June 27 (Reuters) – The United States is encouraged by recent efforts by Armenia and Azerbaijan to engage productively on a peace process, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said on Tuesday as Washington hosts the two countries' foreign ministers for talks.

Earlier on Tuesday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan and Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov ahead of talks between the two, and emphasized that direct dialogue is key to solving the conflict in the South Caucasus, Miller said. (Reporting by Daphne Psaledakis and Simon Lewis; editing by Jonathan Oatis)