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The Armenian delegation (left) meeting with its Azerbaijani counterpart (right) yesterday at Blair House in Washington D.C. via Azerbaijani MFA on Twitter.<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n For many, the significance of yesterday’s bilateral meeting between the Armenian and Azerbaijani Foreign Ministers, Ararat Mirzoyan and Jeyhun Bayramov, appears to have been overlooked. Instead, all attention was focused on the later meeting of the two state officials with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.\u00a0Though important, the preparation of a peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan has actually been assigned to the Foreign Ministers in a bilateral<\/em> format and not to one with the direct<\/em> involvement of any external actors.<\/p>\n This was announced<\/a> by European Council President Charles Michel after the 31 August facilitated meeting between Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Brussels. Of course, that the bilateral meeting in Washington D.C. was hosted by the U.S. State Department and upon the initiative of Secretary of State Blinken is not insignificant either, but also follows a similar meeting held on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly on 19 September.<\/p>\n However, it is what was discussed during the \u00a0bilateral between Mirzoyan and Bayramov that is arguably more important.\u00a0Indeed, Blinken himself hinted as much in his <\/span>opening remarks<\/a> to the trilateral meeting with the Armenian and Azerbaijani Foreign Ministers held afterwards.<\/span><\/p>\n “Direct dialogue is the best way to a truly durable peace, and we are very pleased to support that,” he said. Blinken also reaffirmed the importance of recognising the\u00a0sovereignty and territorial integrity of Armenia and Azerbaijan, something that has become a key element of the meetings between the foreign ministers in Geneva as well the Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders in Prague on 6 October and in Sochi at the end of the\u00a0same month.<\/span>\u00a0Of note too are remarks tweeted by EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus Toivo Klaar.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_code _builder_version=”4.17.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]