The United States on Wednesday deplored the killing of four Armenian separatist fighters by Azerbaijani fire just as the two countries' foreign ministers met near Washington, but said talks would keep going.
Rebels said the four were killed in the breakaway Armenian-controlled Nagorno-Karabakh region, where tensions have been flaring over a blockade of the only land corridor connecting to Armenia.
"We are deeply disturbed by the loss of life in Nagorno-Karabakh and we offer our condolences to the families of all of those who were killed," State Department spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters.
He said that the killings "underscore the need to refrain from hostilities and for a durable and dignified peace."
Secretary of State Antony Blinken opened three days of talks with the ministers on Tuesday.
Patel said the negotiations "were constructive, and we continue to build on those discussions today and tomorrow, so there's no change in the schedule."
The talks mark the second such session in as many months led by Blinken, with Russia, long the primary power-broker between the two former Soviet republics, bogged down in its invasion of Ukraine.
https://www.barrons.com/news/us-deplores-killing-of-armenian-troops-amid-peace-talks-46be1267?refsec=topics_afp-news