YEREVAN, October 22. /ARKA/. US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo plans to hold talks with the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan later this week, TASS reported. Pompeo told reporters at a press briefing on Wednesday that the meetings will take place on Friday, October 23.
‘It’s a complicated diplomatic situation. Our view remains, as the view of nearly every European country, that the right path forward is to cease the conflict, tell them to de-escalate, that every country should stay out, provide no fuel for this conflict, no weapons systems, no support, and it is at that point that a diplomatic solution that would be acceptable to all can potentially be achieved,” Pompeo said.
“That’s what I will talk to them about on Friday and I’m anxious to hear from them what they’re seeing on the ground and how we might get closer to what we think is not only in the United States’ best interest but in each of their countries’ best interest as well,” the US secretary of state added.
Since the morning of September 27, when Azerbaijan attacked Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) with support from Turkish armed forces and mercenaries from the Middle East, Armenian armed forces have killed about 6,500 Azerbaijani soldiers, having wounded also many thousands. They have also destroyed 580 battle tanks and armored vehicles, 4 MLRS Smerch and Uragan, 4 MLRS TOS-1A, 202 UAVs, 16 helicopters and 23 aircraft.
According to the official data of the Armenian side, while repelling the enemy’s aggression, 834 Armenian servicemen have been killed and several hundred wounded. Azerbaijani shelling have also killed 37 civilians in Nagorno-Karabakh and another 116 have been wounded.
Azerbaijani fire has also destroyed and damaged 7,800 real estate objects. Azerbaijan twice breached Russia-brokered truce. Intense hostilities in Artsakh still continue.