Ex-U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan: Progress Between Azerbaijan and U.S. Must Continue

"First and foremost, it is truly gratifying to see President Ilham Aliyev at the United Nations and to hear Azerbaijan’s voice on such a global platform," said former US Ambassador to Azerbaijan Robert Cekuta.

According to him, there is no one else who can deliver the country’s message as effectively as the President, The Caspian Post reports citing AZERTAC.

“The second thing is the remarks of the president. I think, in terms of noting the progress that Azerbaijan and Armenia have made in building peace are very welcome. Much of the discussions in here, New York, have been on very depressing subjects. But this is one of progress. United States has played an important role, President Trump has played an important role in seeing progress in the August 8th meeting, for example, and continuing to be engaged. That's important that US has to continue to be engaged. But it's really Azerbaijan and Armenia who came together to make this peace. I think that's really a positive development and one to be celebrated,” added Robert Sekuta.

The diplomat added: “I know President Aliyev raised Section 907, and this is a long-standing issue. It would require changing American law, which will not be easy. But there is waiver provision, which we used when I was ambassador and which President Trump exercised on August 8th. So I think these are all positive developments. More needs to be done. We need to keep working at it. But at a time when so much news is negative, it's nice to see,” the former ambassador emphasized.