US, Turkish officials mull situation in South Caucasus

Turkish and US officials held talks Thursday in a third meeting of the Turkiye-US Strategic Mechanism in Washington, according to a statement by the Turkish Foreign Ministry.

Report informs, citing Anadolu, that Turkish Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Sedat Onal and US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman chaired the meeting.

"Building on their steadfast partnership and previous discussions under the framework of the Turkiye-US Strategic Mechanism, the two reaffirmed their strong cooperation as partners and NATO Allies and engaged in substantive dialogue on strategic global and regional issues and areas of bilateral cooperation," the statement said.

The delegations expressed their support for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity and discussed ways to further NATO coordination, it said.

"The United States welcomed Turkiye's efforts to broker the Istanbul Black Sea grain deal for safe passage of Ukrainian agricultural goods in the Black Sea," the statement said.

The two delegations also discussed possible avenues of cooperation in different parts of the world and underlined the importance of promoting peace in the South Caucasus, it added.