Yerevan /Mediamax/. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has highlighted to to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev the importance of continuing efforts by the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs.

He has made this remark during the phone conversation with Aliyev, the U.S. State Department said in a press statement.

“Secretary Blinken and President Aliyev emphasized the continuing importance of the U.S.-Azerbaijan bilateral partnership, and discussed a range of issues. The Secretary underscored the importance of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. The Secretary noted the importance of continuing efforts by the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs to negotiate a lasting political settlement to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict benefiting all people in the region,” the statement reads.

In mid-April Ilham Aliyev complained he had received no phone calls from Blinken.

“We have not received any messages from the new administration yet, although the administration was formed in January, and it is April now,”Aliyev said. According to him, the new U.S. Secretary of State had already held a telephone conversation with the Prime Minister of Armenia.

“I do not want to say that I am waiting for a call from Mr. Blinken. But the United States is a co-chairing country, and so it must maintain a balance,” he said.