Armenia, Azerbaijan have extraordinary opportunity to sign peace  agreement - Antony Blinken 

ArmInfo. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday said a peace agreement between Azerbaijan 

and Armenia is achievable.

"I was speaking just about a week ago to (Azerbaijani) President 

(Ilham) Aliyev on this I think that's achievable, and it's manifestly 

in the interests of both Azerbaijan and Armenia, as well as the 

broader region," Blinken said in remarks at the Brookings Institution 

in Washington, DC.

In response to a question, Blinken said there is an "extraordinary 

opportunity, potential" to realize a peace agreement between the two 

countries to end decades of conflict and create an opportunity for 

economic connectivity and growth in the region.

"Azerbaijan has a critical role to play in that. We have invested 

intensely in our own diplomacy in trying to help bring Azerbaijan and 

Armenia to a peace agreement, we've done that in very close 

collaboration and coordination with the European Union, and I think 

that's something that really is within reach," he added.

Blinken's remarks came after Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat 

Mirzoyan said last week that his nation is ready to sign a peace 

treaty with Azerbaijan.

Speaking at a news conference in Armenia's capital Yerevan, Mirzoyan 

said a treaty may be drafted within a month.

The US has invited the two southern Caucasus nations to the July 9-11 

NATO summit in Washington, which marks the 75th anniversary of the 

Western security alliance.

"US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is hosting an event for all of 

NATO's partners.  That includes Armenia and Azerbaijan, so we expect 

them both to attend it. That's the foreign ministerial level. So they 

will attend along with the other, a total of 30 partners," Jim 

O'Brien, top US diplomat for Europe and Eurasia, told a Friday a 

press conference in Baku, Azerbaijan's capital.

Relations between Baku and Yerevan have been tense since 1991, when 

the Armenian military occupied Karabakh, a territory internationally 

recognized as part of Azerbaijan, and seven adjacent regions.