The Trump administration "spent the entire weekend" trying to broker peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan, a senior administration official told TURAN's Wasington correspondent on Sunday.

Following foreign ministers' Friday meetings at the State Department and White House (National Security Council), Robert O'Brien, President Trump's national security adviser, spoke by phone with President Ilham Aliyev and Armenia's Nikol Pashinyan on Saturday.

In his turn, Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun met with both FMs Zohrab Mnatsakanyan and Jeyhun Bayramov, along with Minsk Group co-chairs and OSCE's Andrzej Kasprzyk on Saturday.

A third ceasefire ceasefire, which was announced by the State Department on Sunday, was agreed "at a last minute on Sunday" a diplomatic source told TURAN.

"There were an awful number of back-and-forces between Washington, Baku and Yerevan over the weekend," the source claimed.

Following the State Department's announcement on Sunday, President Trump took on Twitter to congratulate President Aliyev and PM Pashinyan, “who just agreed to adhere to a cease fire effective at midnight.”

“Many lives will be saved,” Trump wrote, adding that he was “proud of my team,” including Pompeo, Biegun, and the White House's National Security Council, for “getting the deal done!”

“Congratulations to all of them for agreeing to adhere to the cease fire today," O'Brien tweeted in his turn.

"Lives will be saved in both nations. Secretary Pompeo and [Deputy Secretary of State] Stephen Biegun played a key role. Well done" he added.

In its own statement, OSCE Minsk Group said its co-chairs, Igor Popov of the Russian Federation, Stephane Visconti of France and Andrew Schofer of the U.S., agreed with the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan to meet again in Geneva on Oct. 29 to further discuss the parameters of monitoring the ceasefire and a timeline for a comprehensive, long-term solution.  

No further information about the terms of the ceasefire was immediately available.

Alex Raufoglu

Washington D.C.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                Source - Turan 

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26.10.2020 11:29