Armenia and Azerbaijan to Hold Peace Settlement Talks in Washington on Sunday

File photo: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (C) meets with an Armenian delegation including Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan (L) and a delegation with Azerbaijan including Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov in New York, New York, US, 19 September 2022. (EPA)
File photo: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (C) meets with an Armenian delegation including Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan (L) and a delegation with Azerbaijan including Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov in New York, New York, US, 19 September 2022. (EPA)
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Armenia and Azerbaijan to Hold Peace Settlement Talks in Washington on Sunday

File photo: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (C) meets with an Armenian delegation including Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan (L) and a delegation with Azerbaijan including Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov in New York, New York, US, 19 September 2022. (EPA)
File photo: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (C) meets with an Armenian delegation including Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan (L) and a delegation with Azerbaijan including Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov in New York, New York, US, 19 September 2022. (EPA)

Armenia and Azerbaijan will hold a new round of talks in Washington on Sunday to try to normalize relations, the spokesperson of Armenia's Foreign Ministry said on Saturday.

Tensions have been rising again between the two countries over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region, where Russian peacekeepers were deployed in 2020 to end a war, the second that Armenia and Azerbaijan have fought over the enclave since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union, Reuters said.

The mountain region is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan but populated mainly by ethnic Armenians.

"From April 30 Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan will be in Washington DC on a working visit. The next round of discussions on the agreement on normalization of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan is scheduled," the spokesperson, Ani Badalyan, said on her official Facebook page.

There was no immediate confirmation of the meeting by Azerbaijan.

Despite years of attempted mediation between them, Armenia and Azerbaijan have yet to reach a peace agreement that would settle outstanding issues such as the demarcation of borders and return of prisoners.

Azerbaijan set up a new checkpoint last Sunday on the road to Karabakh, the Lachin corridor, in a move that Armenia called a gross violation of a 2020 ceasefire.



Trump Rescinds Sanctions on Far-right Israeli Settlers

WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 20: US President Donald Trump speaks during inauguration ceremonies in the Rotunda of the US Capitol on January 20, 2025 in Washington, DC. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images/AFP
WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 20: US President Donald Trump speaks during inauguration ceremonies in the Rotunda of the US Capitol on January 20, 2025 in Washington, DC. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images/AFP
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Trump Rescinds Sanctions on Far-right Israeli Settlers

WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 20: US President Donald Trump speaks during inauguration ceremonies in the Rotunda of the US Capitol on January 20, 2025 in Washington, DC. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images/AFP
WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 20: US President Donald Trump speaks during inauguration ceremonies in the Rotunda of the US Capitol on January 20, 2025 in Washington, DC. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images/AFP

Among other Biden-era executive orders that President Trump rescinded Monday is one that authorizes sanctions on people who undermine peace in the occupied West Bank.
The Biden administration used the executive order to impose a handful of sanctions on extremist settlers accused of using violence against Palestinians who live in the West Bank after violence erupted after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attacks on Israel.
Settlers in the territory have celebrated the incoming Trump administration, believing it will take a more favorable approach to illegal settlements. During his first term, Trump took unprecedented steps to support Israel’s territorial claims, including recognizing Jerusalem as its capital and moving the US Embassy there, and recognizing Israel’s annexation of the Golan Heights.