October 19, 2020 - 22:01 AMT
Pompeo to host Armenian, Azerbaijani foreign ministers on Oct. 23

The Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan are scheduled to separately meet with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Washington on Friday, October 23, Poltico reports.

It’s not clear whether the foreign policy chiefs will meet with each other or whether U.S. officials will try to convene a trilateral session.

According to U.S. government documents, Azerbaijan Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov will meet first with Pompeo on Friday morning. Armenian Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan will meet shortly afterward with the U.S. secretary of State.

In an interview on Monday, Azerbaijan’s ambassador to the United States, Elin Suleymanov, did not rule out the possibility of an encounter between the Armenian and Azerbaijan ministers during their Washington stay.

Azerbaijan, with help from Turkey and Syrian and Libyan mercenaries deployed by Ankara, started a war against Karabakh (Artsakh) in the morning of September 27. The Armenian side has reported deaths and injuries both among the civilian population and the military. Foreign and local journalists too have been injured in Azeri shelling of towns and villages.

Donations can be made to Hayastan All-Armenian Fund, which has launched a fundraising campaign to support humanitarian efforts in Karabakh.