Bolton, Aliyev Discuss Karabakh Conflict

By Asbarez | Friday, 01 February 2019

President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan (left) had a telephone conversation with U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton on Jan, 29

President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan (left) had a telephone conversation with U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton on Jan, 29

President Trump’s national security adviser John Bolton announced on Twitter that on Tuesday he had a telephone conversation with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, with whom the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict was discussed.

“Today I spoke with President Aliyev of Azerbaijan. We discussed a number of shared interests, including energy security, security cooperation, and U.S. support for a peaceful resolution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,” Bolton said in his Twitter post on Tuesday.

There were no further details provided from either side about the conversation.

Last week, Bolton called Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to congratulate him on his reappointment and to discuss U.S.-Armenia relations, both leaders announced. Pashinyan said last week that Karabakh was not part of the topics of discussion.

Prompted by the news of a Bolton-Aliyev conversation, Pashinyan on Wednesday was asked by reporters about whether the Karabakh conflict was discussed last week during his conversation with the U.S. official.

“I want to emphasize, once again, that there is no information that the public is not aware of. I have said that during my telephone conversation with Bolton, the Karabakh issue was not discussed,” Pashinyan told reporters Wednesday, reiterating that his conversation with Bolton focused on U.S.-Armenia relations.

The prime minister also reiterated an earlier comment that when he and Aliyev met in Davos, Switzerland last week, no concrete issues pertaining the Karabakh conflict resolution were discussed, explaining that his meetings with Aliyev were not negotiations, but rather informal conversations, during which “an exchange of ideas” takes place.

The United States Director of National Intelligence Daniel R. Coats, on Monday presented its report compiled jointly by American intelligence agencies. In the report, the Nagorno-Karabakh is mentioned in brief.

“Tension between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the Nagorno-Karabakh region remains a potential source for a large-scale military conflict that might draw in Russia,” the report, presented to Congressional leaders, mentioned.

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