In an August 14 interview Edmon Marukian, ambassador-at-large at Armenia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, did not specify where such negotiations will take place.
The latest Armenian-Azerbaijani talks on the peace treaty took place in Moscow on July 25 and were held at the level of foreign ministers.
It followed several rounds of negotiations hosted by the United States and the European Union.
Matthew Miller, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of State, on August 7 reiterated Washington’s belief that a peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan remained “within reach.”
He made the remark while commenting on an earlier statement by Denis Gonchar, a senior Russian Foreign Ministry official, who said that “a hastily prepared, raw [Armenian-Azerbaijani] peace treaty would not bring a sustainable peace to the region, but, on the contrary, would lay the foundation for new conflicts and tragedies in the future.”
Tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan escalated again in recent days amid a reportedly deteriorating humanitarian situation in Nagorno-Karabakh that Yerevan blames on Azerbaijan, saying that it continues to block all commercial and humanitarian supplies to the region where an estimated 120,000 ethnic Armenians live. Azerbaijan denies blockading the region.
Following an appeal from Nagorno-Karabakh’s ethnic Armenian leader Arayik Harutiunian to the international community over the blockade last week Armenia asked the United Nations Security Council to hold an emergency meeting on Nagorno-Karabakh. Such a meeting has been scheduled for August 16, the Associated Press reported on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Azerbaijan accused Armenia of conducting a military buildup along the border, a claim denied by Yerevan and refuted by a European Union mission (EUMA) that has been monitoring areas along the Armenian-Azerbaijan border since last year.
The EUMA mission today first refuted a report by Armenia’s Defense Ministry that its patrol has been a target of shooting, but then corrected its statement, saying that “we confirm that a EUMA patrol has been present to the shooting incident in our area of responsibility.” It added on X that no EUMA member was harmed.
Meanwhile, Armenia’s Foreign Ministry suggested on Monday that Baku’s “spreading false information” about Armenia’s military buildup “indicates Azerbaijan’s intention to aggravate the situation in the region.”
Armenia said late on Monday that one of its soldiers stationed at a border position was seriously wounded by fire coming from the Azerbaijani side. Both countries have blamed each other for ceasefire violations along the restive border in recent days. Baku and Stepanakert have also traded accusations for reported shooting incidents around Nagorno-Karabakh.