Azerbaijani president, U.S. diplomat exchange views on Baku-Yerevan peace treaty talks

BAKU. March 6 (Interfax) - Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Senior Advisor to the U.S. Secretary of State for Caucasus Negotiations Louis Bono met in Baku on Monday to discuss normalization of Azerbaijani-Armenian relations, says a statement on the Azerbaijani presidential website.

Aliyev expressed satisfaction with the outcome of a meeting with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan at the Munich Security Conference and thanked U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken for the effort towards normalization of Azerbaijani-Armenian relations, the statement said.

"During the meeting, Aliyev and Bono exchanged views on normalization of relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia and bilateral negotiations on a peace treaty," it said.

Bono told reporters after the talks that the United States was ready for further assistance to Azerbaijan and Armenia in signing a peace treaty.

The peace treaty must be enduring and come from the two parties, rather than the United States or third countries, he said.

According to him, it is important to Washington that Azerbaijan and Armenia interact irrespective of the mediation format. The final goal of the United States is peace between Azerbaijan and Armenia, Bono said. He noted that both sides would profit from peace, as they reaffirmed the aspiration for peace at a meeting in Munich on February 18, 2023.

Bono said he would go to Armenia on March 7 to encourage the sides to maintain dialogue and to meet again, he said.