The readout of the phone call released by Pashinian’s office said that the two, in particular, discussed the bilateral meeting of the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan in Washington on November 7 and their subsequent talks hosted by Blinken in a trilateral format.
“Secretary of State Blinken expressed the willingness of the United States to continue supporting the settlement of Armenia-Azerbaijan relations, as well as the Nagorno-Karabakh problem,” the phone call readout said.
“Prime Minister Pashinian highly appreciated the U.S. efforts and the personal involvement of Secretary of State Blinken.
“The two agreed to continue discussions on steps aimed at increasing the level of security and stability in the region, including the settlement of humanitarian issues,” it added.
Blinken praised Armenia and Azerbaijan for taking “courageous steps” toward peace as he hosted talks between Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan and Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov on November 7.
The two foreign ministers announced after their meeting that they “agreed to expedite the negotiations and organize another meeting in the coming weeks.”
The subsequent days brought reports of ceasefire violations along the tense Armenian-Azerbaijani border and in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone as the parties blamed each other for the apparent escalation.
In an escalating war of words, meanwhile, Pashinian and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev accused each other of failing to live up to their commitments under a Russia-brokered ceasefire that brought a deadly 44-day war to a close in November 2020.