Will Pompeo Participate in the Mamediarov-Mnatsakanyan Meeting?

The newspaper "Iravunk" reports: "Yesterday, Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan left for Washington on a working visit. As is known, tomorrow, under the mediation of the co-chairs of the Minsk Group, a meeting will take place with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan, Mamediarov. The expectations for the Mamediarov-Mnatsakanyan meeting have reached a point where it is meaningless to dwell on them; the meeting will occur, and everything will become clear.

Let us remind that the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spoke before the meeting about its intention to continue discussions in Washington that had previously taken place in the other two capitals of the Minsk Group—Paris and Moscow—specifically around the well-known six-point program of the Minsk Group. On the other hand, the Armenian Foreign Ministry appears to have a different agenda related to the recent escalation on the borders and, consequently, the establishment of mechanisms for investigating border incidents, referring back to the well-known decisions made in Vienna and St. Petersburg.

Which of these two visions will prevail in Washington will likely depend not only on the actions of the Minsk Group co-chairs but also on the level of intervention by the U.S. State Department in this meeting. In this regard, Mamediarov expressed hope that based on the participation of Lavrov in the meeting held in Moscow, the Secretary of State will also make efforts to achieve a breakthrough in resolving the confrontation during the Washington meeting. At least as of yesterday, there was no information indicating that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo plans to participate in the Mamediarov-Mnatsakanyan meeting; however, even if he does not participate, he has the opportunity to intervene through other means, of course. More details in the newspaper's current issue."