10:26,
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 29, ARMENPRESS. The United States has once again emphasized the importance of sending an international mission to Nagorno-Karabakh, noting that it is ‘quite serious' about it.
“We are quite serious about the international mission,” U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said at a press briefing on September 28.
“We think the international mission is important because it relates to all of the other questions about humanitarian assistance, about humanitarian needs in the region. We are so serious about the international mission that the Secretary raised it in his call with President Aliyev, pressed him to support an international mission. You may have seen that the Azerbaijani Government came out yesterday [September 27] and said that they do support an international mission, and in fact in their statement said one of the reasons they are supporting it is because they have been pushed to support it by the United States. So we are quite clear on it. We’re working with our allies and partners on what the best mechanism to effectuate that is. But we think it’s important to provide transparency and to assure that humanitarian needs are being addressed on the ground," he added.
Miller did not disclose specifics of the possible mission because the work is ongoing.
“I can’t preview specifics right now because it is a matter that is ongoing with a number of allies and partners in the region. Both under what auspices that mission would be launched, who would participate, what its scope would be, what it would look like – all those things are under discussion. So I don’t want to make any kind of announcement before we’ve nailed down the details. But it is a matter we are working on,” the State Department spokesperson said.
84,770 forcibly displaced persons have crossed into Armenia from Nagorno-Karabakh as of Friday morning amid the ongoing mass exodus following the September 19-20 Azerbaijani attack which ended after Nagorno-Karabakh authorities agreed to Azerbaijan’s terms in a Russian-brokered ceasefire deal.
