US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had a telephone conversation with Council of Europe President Charles Michel today. The State Department reported.

According to information, Blinken and Michel also discussed the possibilities of establishing a stable and lasting peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Let us remind that on 14 May, a tripartite meeting with the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan, Nikol Pashinyan and Ilham Aliyev, with the participation of Charles Michel, is scheduled in Brussels. It will be followed by the Bairamov-Mirzoyan meeting in Moscow, preceded by the talks between the foreign ministers of the two countries in Washington.

It should be noted that today from 06:00 the units of the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan opened fire from artillery and mortar means in the direction of the Armenian positions located in the direction of Sotk. The units of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia are taking appropriate protective and preventive measures. The Armenian side has 4 wounded, while Azerbaijan reported one killed and one seriously wounded.

Today, at the Government session, Nikol Pashinyan, who holds the position of the Prime Minister of Armenia, announced. “These actions of the Azerbaijani side are provocative and aim, among others, to nullify the progress that was registered during the negotiations that took place in Washington on 1-4 May. Today’s provocation is also aimed at disrupting the negotiations scheduled for Sunday in Brussels in a trilateral format, and in Chisinau on 1 June in a five-party format.

Experience shows that Azerbaijan needs the negotiation process only to get an escalation and a reason for war, and escalations are used exclusively to nullify any progress made in the negotiations.”