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Azerbaijan bars US officials from visiting in wake of Washington’s statements

The Azerbaijani diplomatic agency slammed the remark by James O'Brien, the US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, as baseless and unacceptable

BAKU, November 16. /TASS/. High-ranking US officials will not be allowed to visit Azerbaijan now that Washington has barred Azerbaijani representatives from travelling to the United States, Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry said in a comment following yesterday’s hearings at the US House Foreign Affairs Committee.

"Concerning the statement that the US side has cancelled high-level bilateral meetings and engagements, which were initiated by the US side with Azerbaijan, and that `there cannot be `business as usual’ in our bilateral relationship’, it should be noted that the relations cannot be one-sided," the ministry said in a statement. "Consequently, the same approach will be applied equally by Azerbaijan. In these circumstances, we consider the possibility of high-level visits from the United States to Azerbaijan inappropriate as well," the ministry added.

The Azerbaijani diplomatic agency slammed the remark by James O'Brien, the US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, as baseless and unacceptable.

On Wednesday, O'Brien said that the United States had cancelled a number of high-level visits and suspended military and other aid to Baku over the lack of progress toward peace with Yerevan. The senior US official also signaled to Azerbaijan that normalization of bilateral relations won't occur until progress is made in peace talks with Armenia.

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