The United States is working to ensure that the export of goods from Central Asia goes not through Russia and China, but through alternative routes, including through Azerbaijan.
This was stated by U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs James O’Brien during hearings in the House Foreign Affairs Committee. “This concerns the entire region, Central Asia, the exports of all these countries to global markets are currently going only through China and Russia. To find an alternative route, they need to cooperate with Azerbaijan,” he said, discussing the goals of his upcoming trip to Baku.
“One route goes through Georgia to the Black Sea, but another, potentially larger, would go through Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Turkey, and for this reason, we need a peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia,” the diplomat explained. O’Brien added that during his visit he would convey to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev that “the time has come to make peace.”