WASHINGTON – US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke on the Nagorno Karabakh conflict at a press conference on the morning of October 14, 2020 when asked to set the record state on the position of the Trump Administration. He said he did not wish to go on the record on initiatives that are ongoing, but noted that he spoke to President Trump about the topic that morning. He then declared the following:
“We are watching what’s taking place there. We’ve joined our European partners, and frankly many countries around the world, to ask that there be a ceasefire as a beginning of a solution to the conflict. We’ve watched the reporting of civilian deaths. We’ve watched Turkey begin to reinforce Azerbaijan. We have asked every international player to stay out of the region, not to continue to reinforce trouble, and we are working to deliver that. We’re using our diplomatic toolkit to try to achieve an outcome that gets a standdown, a ceasefire and an outcome that is a solution based on international law. Pretty straightforward. We are focused on it and we are paying a great deal attention to it and we’ve frankly done some work that I think increases the likelihood that the objectives that I just identified for you actually take place.” (see the video clip below)
On the day before, October 13, Pompeo tweeted a call for both Azerbaijan and Armenia to implement a ceasefire and, keeping equivalence, asked for an end to shelling of Stepanakert and Ganja.
The United States calls on Azerbaijan and Armenia to implement their commitments to a ceasefire as agreed and cease targeting civilian areas, such as Ganja and Stepanakert. We deplore the loss of human life and remain committed to a peaceful settlement.
— Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) October 13, 2020
