French, US Ambassadors Decline Azerbaijani Government’s Invitation to Attend Diplomatic Conclave in Shushi

BAKU — The Ambassadors of France and the United States to Azerbaijan have ignored the invitation of the Azerbaijani government to visit Shushi, Hikmet Hajiyev, assistant to the president of Azerbaijan, said on Saturday in an angry tone, the Azerbaijani media report.

“Today the Ambassadors of France and the United States are not in Shushi. They have demonstratively ignored the invitation of the Azerbaijani government”, he said.

“We cannot understand the reason for their non-participation here. Truly, the city of Shusha does not need the participation of these countries. They may come or may not. It means we will not invite them from now on,” Hajiyev stated.

Hajiyev then criticized the OSCE Minsk Group, of which the U.S. and France are co-chairs along with Russia, of achieving little in the past twenty years to resolve the Karabakh conflict.

“We accept this as a disrespectful attitude towards our territorial integrity. Because, according to those countries, the conflict is not over yet,” said Hajiyev.

Hajiyev said France and the USA, “had no stake in the settlement of the conflict”.

“They wasted thirty years of our time. By not participating in this trip, they once again showed disdain,” the Azerbaijani official added.

This is not the first time that the ambassadors of France and the USA in Azerbaijan refused to visit Shushi.

They backed out of participating in similar events held in July 2021 in Fizuli (ed. Varanda) and Shushi. The Russian ambassador also was a no-show.

The Azerbaijani media, at the time, accused the three superpowers of adopting a “pro-Armenian” position.