U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken and Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Cavusoglu have had a "relatively long conversation about the Caucasus – Armenia, Azerbaijan, Nagorno-Karabakh", a senior State Department official told a briefing on Tuesday, September 21.

The two met in New York City on the margins of the UN General Assembly earlier on Tuesday to discuss multiple areas of U.S.-Turkish cooperation.

"So I think you know that in the wake of the Armenia-Azerbaijan war earlier this spring, the U.S. has tried to be helpful in supporting a peace and reconciliation conversation between the two of them. We participated in a swap of – we midwifed a swap of some demining maps that the Armenians turned over to the Azerbaijanis for the release of some detainees," the unnamed official told reporters.

"So the question now becomes whether, with U.S. support, with other Minsk Group countries’ support, with Turkey’s support, we can do more to facilitate a de-escalation of tensions between the two, both along the border, with regard to remaining detainees, with regard to remaining mines, and then take some – see them – help them take some small steps which might lay the path towards a larger peace and reconciliation process."

According to senior official, Blinken he Secretary made clear to Turkey, which has been very much involved in this and is a neighbor, that the U.S. is prepared to be helpful if it can be.

"We are also at a level below the Secretary having bilateral meetings with the Armenians and the Azerbaijanis this week and making the same offer there," the official said.