Pashinyan, Blinken discuss regional situation, upcoming Armenia-Azerbaijan talks in Washington

YEREVAN. May 2 (Interfax) - Armenia's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has discussed the situation in the region and upcoming talks in Washington between his country and Azerbaijan in a phone call with United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Saturday.

"Pashinyan and Blinken discussed the military-political and humanitarian situation in the region. The premier of Armenia stressed that Azerbaijan's steps in the Lachin corridor were aimed at carrying out ethnic cleansing in Nagorno-Karabakh and completely ousting the Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh. Pashinyan stated the importance of appropriate international reaction to Azerbaijani actions jeopardizing regional security," the press service for the Armenian government said in a statement.

The pair also "exchanged views on the Armenia-Azerbaijan negotiation process and the upcoming discussions in Washington," it said.

"The sides stated the importance of consistent efforts towards regional stability and peace [and] touched on issues of a humanitarian nature," the government said.

It was reported that Armenia's Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan will be in Washington on working visit from April 30 for another round of discussions with Azerbaijan over a normalization agreement.

The Armenian delegation will also include the parliament's Vice Speaker Ruben Rubinyan, who is the special representative for the normalization of Armenia's relations with Turkey.