Karabakh conflict discussed between French, Armenian top diplomats

Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian met with his French counterpart Laurent Fabius during his official visit to France, Armenia Today reports citing the Foreign Ministry.

The foreign ministers discussed action for further development of bilateral cooperation. During the meeting both sides touched upon Armenian-EU relations, Armenia's chairmanship in the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe and the interaction within the international Francophone.

Minister Nalbandian highly appreciated the constructive involvement of France as a co-chairing country of the OSCE Minsk Group and confirmed Armenia's readiness to continue joint efforts with the co-chairing countries of the OSCE Minsk aimed at peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

The sides discussed international and regional issues of mutual interest, exchanged views on the Iranian nuclear programme and efforts of overcoming the crisis in Syria.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 per cent of Azerbaijan since 1992, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Russia, France and the U.S. are currently holding peace negotiations.

Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council's four resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.


/Trend/