President Aliyev: US could play a critical role in normalizing Armenia-Azerbaijan relations

"We believe that at a time when a favorable atmosphere for lasting peace and economic progress has emerged in the South Caucasus, the US could play a critical role in normalizing Armenia-Azerbaijan relations, opening communications and establishing people-to-people contacts," President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev said in a congratulatory letter to his US counterpart Joseph Biden on the occasion of July 4-Independence Day, Report informs, citing AZERTAC.

"In the meantime, we understand that the US could make a valuable contribution to the process of preparing a peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan based on five basic principles submitted by us," he said.

"The landmines planted by Armenia across our liberated territories remain a formidable impediment to our restoration and reconstruction efforts. We commend the assistance extended by the US to our country for the demining works. We also have great hopes for your country’s support in clarifying the fate of nearly 4000 of our fellow citizens who had gone missing in the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict, " the head of state said.