FM Meeting with French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna “Baku’s ‘War Rhetoric’ Undermines Regional Normalization Efforts”

PARIS –Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan said that Azerbaijan’s “maximalist approaches” and “war rhetoric” undermine efforts towards establishing security and stability in the region as he met with his French counterpart on a visit to Paris on Friday.

According to a statement released by the Armenian Foreign Ministry’s press service, during the meeting Mirzoyan briefed French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna on the recent Armenian-Azerbaijani talks over a peace treaty, the position of the Armenian side on the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the border delimitation process between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and efforts on unblocking transport infrastructures in the region.

Mirzoyan reportedly expressed his gratitude to Colonna for “the principled position of the French side in terms of eliminating the consequences of the Azerbaijani aggression against the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia on September 13-14.”

“At the same time, France’s role as the Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group in promoting a peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict was highly appreciated. Both sides highlighted the importance of the statement adopted following the quadrilateral meeting held in Prague on October 6. Issues on the activities of the EU Observation Mission in Armenia and the OSCE Needs Assessment Mission were also discussed during the meeting,” the statement added.

Later on Friday, the Armenian Foreign Ministry’s press service also reported Mirzoyan’s phone call with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov.

It said that issues related to the process of normalization of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan as well as Nagorno-Karabakh were discussed during the phone call.

The two also reportedly addressed issues related to upcoming meetings in Yerevan of leaders of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), a Russia-led security grouping of six former Soviet nations, including Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan.

Foreign ministers of the CSTO member states are due to gather in Yerevan on November 22 before the countries’ leaders meet in the Armenian capital the next day.