Listen to this articlePresident Emmanuel Macron of France reiterated his demand on respecting Armenia’s territorial integrity during a phone call with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, the French president’s office reported in a statement.
Macron reportedly called Aliyev following his meeting on Monday with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in Paris.
“The French President repeated his call to his Azerbaijani colleague on returning to the ceasefire and holding the troops in their initial positions. There are numerous deaths as a result of the clashes of the recent days. He also reminded about his demand to respect Armenia’s territorial integrity,” the Elysee Palace statement said.
Macron also told Aliyev that Pashinyan has voiced his willingness to continue negotiations over unresolved issues. Macron underscored France’s readiness to contribute to these talks.
Meanwhile, Armenia’s Defense Minister Suren Papikyan met with his French counterpart Sébastien Lecornu, with whom he discussed the current situation following the Sept. 13 attack by Azerbaijan on Armenia’s sovereign territory.
Armenia’s Defense Minister Suren Papikyan (left) during a meeting with France’s Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu
Lecornu said that France will send a delegation to assess the current situation.
“We discussed the situation on the border with Azerbaijan where the hostilities must cease, and the Azerbaijani forces must return to their initial positions. I have announced the rapid dispatch of a French delegation to Armenia to assess the situation,” Lecornu said.
Meanwhile The French Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group Brice Roquefeuil will visit Yerevan, according to France’s Foreign Ministry.
“By the end of the week the French Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group Brice Roquefeuil will visit Baku, then Yerevan to support and encourage the search of solutions for all outstanding issues,” the French foreign ministry said, adding that Roquefeuil will also visit Georgia,” the statement said.
There a delegation of French senators currently in Armenia. They met on Wednesday with foreign minister Ararat Mirzoyan, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan as well as President Vahagn Khachatryan.
