Yerevan /Mediamax/. Baku refused to participate in the meeting of the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan in Washington.

Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry reported about it.

Earlier today, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded to the statements of James O’Brien, Assistant Secretary at the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs of the US Department of State, made during the hearing on the Future of Nagorno-Karabakh held on November 15 at the Foreign Relations Committee of the US House of Representatives.

The statement of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry says:

“O’Brien’s one-sided and biased statements are counterproductive, baseless and unacceptable.”

“We consider the hearings and the statements as a blow to Azerbaijani-American relations in bilateral and multilateral formats. The baseless accusations against Azerbaijan are irrelevant and undermine peace and security in the region,” the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said.

 James O’Brien, in particular said that “Azerbaijan’s use of force in Nagorno-Karabakh has undermined trust and raised doubts about Baku’s commitment to a comprehensive peace with Armenia.”

“Given this new reality, the Department of State has made it clear to Azerbaijan that we cannot continue our bilateral relations on a basis “business as usual”. The United States has condemned Azerbaijan’s actions in Nagorno-Karabakh, canceled high-level bilateral meetings, and suspended plans for future events. We will continue to urge the Azerbaijani authorities to facilitate the return of Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians who may wish to return to their homes or visit cultural sites in the region, and to restore unimpeded commercial, humanitarian, and passenger traffic to the region through the Lachin corridor,” the US diplomat noted.