Yerevan /Mediamax/. U.S. Assistant Secretary James O’Brien stated that “we continue to actively facilitate conclusion of a just and durable peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and are working to foster deeper cooperation among the Black Sea states.”

“But there remain challenges to democracy in some quarters. We must maintain our focus on countries like Georgia, working with likeminded partners to promote measures that strengthen democracy and incentivize a return by these governments to a Euro-Atlantic path,” the diplomat said, speaking at Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

“We are building a path for countries in the Western Balkans, Moldova, and the Caucasus independent of malign influence from China and Russia. Some elites in that periphery are bucking against making the hard reforms needed to join the EU and NATO. We must work together to ensure those reforms are done,” James O’Brien stated.