Azernews.Az

BAKU – US Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg has said positive trends have been observed in talks on settling the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Nagorno Karabakh in past weeks, and the United States is seeking to assist in their reinforcement.

Steinberg said on the Yerevan-based Kentron TV channel on Thursday that work within the mediating OSCE Minsk Group is a priority in Washington’s foreign policy.

Steinberg and Assistant Secretary of State Philip Gordon visited Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan, the three South Caucasus republics, on February 23-25.

While in Baku, Steinberg held meetings with President Ilham Aliyev and civil society representatives to discuss bilateral cooperation, regional security and the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict.

Steinberg disagreed with statements that Russia has assumed a leading role in Karabakh settlement, reminding that the latest statement on the issue made in Astana was a joint one.

"Certainly, Russia’s activeness in this process is welcome, but all three countries co-chairing the Minsk Group [the United States, Russia and France] are working hard and contributing to the resolution of the conflict," he said, stressing that there is no rivalry among the three co-chair countries.

Steinberg said a negotiated settlement is the only option for reaching a solution and that "we are trying to get this message across to both sides". He added that a peaceful solution meets the interests of all players in the region.

Steinberg’s visit to Azerbaijan and Armenia aims to facilitate defusing tension in the region and achieving a settlement to the Karabakh conflict, US State Department spokesman Philip Crowley was quoted by Russia’s ITAR-TASS news agency as saying at a news briefing on Thursday.

According to him, the Obama administration wants the Caucasus states "to settle their differences with regard to reopening borders and forging relations that would be closer to being normal". Washington admitted, however, that "in the last year or so this process has been stalling", Crowley said.

He noted that one of the goals of Steinberg’s visit to Azerbaijan and Armenia stems from the US intention to "actively engage with these countries to encourage them to seek ways of relieving long-time concerns and differences that exist between them as well as other countries in the region".

Crowley said, however, that the U.S. "cannot wish for anything more than the countries involved", particularly referring to the deadlocked process of reconciliation between Turkey and Armenia.

"We will certainly keep trying to find a way to defuse tension, to assist in moving these processes forward. But we understand that at this point the situation remains complicated," Crowley said.