U.S. First Deputy Secretary of State James B. Steinberg's visit to Azerbaijan and Armenia is intended to promote easing tensions in the region and the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, U.S. State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said at a news briefing today, ITAR-TASS reported.
He said U.S. President Barack Obama's administration wants the South Caucasus countries to settle its differences and open borders. However, Washington acknowledges that "over the last year or so, the process has stalled," Crowley said.
He added that "one of the goals of Steinberg's visit is to actively engage with these countries and encourage them to find ways to remove long-standing concerns."
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and 7 surrounding districts.
Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group - Russia, France, and the U.S. - are currently holding the peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council's four resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.
Crowley added, referring to the halted normalization of ties between Ankara and Yerevan, that, "We will certainly continue to try to find ways to defuse tensions and assist in moving the process forward. But we understand that at this stage the situation remains complicated."