US Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs Bridget Brink is not familiar with the information on behind the scenes negotiations on ceding several territories to Azerbaijan, spread by mass media.
Brink noted at today's press-conference that currently negotiation process on Nagorno-Karabakh settlement is being held, which is supported by the government and the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs and that she has no information on behind the scenes negotiations initiated by Russia for ceding several territories to Azerbaijan, if there are any. At the same time she expressed assurance that OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs will exert maximum efforts for the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Commenting on the escalations in the zone of Karabakh conflict and US activities for the prevention of the military actions, US Deputy Assistant Secretary emphasized that US and Minsk co-chairs' main efforts are aimed toward reducing the tensions in the zone of conflict and its peaceful settlement.
She also noted that she has been informed about the outbreak of violence in the zone of conflict with use of large-caliber weapons. Brink summarized that the US supports co-
chairs' efforts toward exclusively peaceful settlement of the conflict.
To note, information was spread in mass media that behind the scenes negotiations over Karabakh settlement have been initiated by Russia. According to this information, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during his visit to Yerevan on November 9 tried to convince Yerevan to cede several territories adjacent to Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijan. "Due to this Moscow hopes to receive Baku's agreement on joining Eurasian Economic Union", mass media reported.