An Azerbaijani government-controlled news agency, APA, reported on Thursday that Blinken tried to initiate such talks on the sidelines of an ongoing meeting in Malta of the foreign ministers of OSCE member states.
Citing Azerbaijani diplomatic sources, it said Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov “categorically” rejected the offer. Baku now opposes U.S. mediation of the Armenian-Azerbaijani negotiation process because of the “unfair and biased policy” of outgoing President Joe Biden’s administration, according to APA.
The Armenian Foreign Ministry indicated, meanwhile, that Blinken’s proposal was accepted by Yerevan. The ministry spokeswoman, Ani Badalian, told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service on Wednesday that Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan is not scheduled to meet with Bayramov in Malta.
Blinken most recently hosted talks between Mirzoyan and Bayramov in New York on September 26. The top Armenian and Azerbaijani diplomats pledged at the time to “put additional efforts” to finalize a bilateral peace treaty “in the shortest possible period.”
In separate letters sent to the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan in October, Biden expressed readiness to “take bold initiatives that would help pave the way for peace.” The two sides do not seem to have moved closer to the accord since then.
