France calls on Armenia and Azerbaijan to resume the political processes, which must be fair and should not take place under force or other influence, French Ambassador to Armenia Jonathan Lacote said during a press conference dedicated to the completion of archaeological excavations in Erebuni.
“At this moment, when we hold this event, armed operations are taking place in the territory of Armenia, in Gegharkunik province. Of course, our minds are with those killed and their families. We also understand that this is taking place in the context when there is an escalation of the situation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border.
These developments cause the concern of France, because it is also a violation of the ceasefire, because of that the security situation on Armenia’s borders worsens. In this context, France calls for resuming the political processes between Armenia and Azerbaijan, but that process must be fair and must not take place under force or other influence. Of course, there are contacts between France, US and Russia within the frames of the OSCE Minsk Group, in order to have our contribution to the normalization of the situation”, he said.
The Ambassador stated that the main concern of France is Armenia’s border situation.
“Of course, it is in our mind, and we do not forget about the other points of the November 9 trilateral statement as there are still problems with their implementation, particularly the point relating to the release of all prisoners of war held in Azerbaijan,” he said.
France will consider appeals by Armenia on support in the field of defense, however, one should take into account that Armenia and France are not members of the same military alliance, Lacote said.
“In general, our goal is not to prepare for any future war, but to avoid war because I think that the problems existing in the region must not be solved by force, the Karabakh issue, the Armenian-Azerbaijani border issue must be solved only through negotiations. Any alternative will lead to deadlock,” he said.
As for French President Emmanuel Macron’s possible visit to Armenia, the Ambassador said he really has been obliged to come back to Armenia during the 2018 La Francophonie summit.
“As of this moment there is no concrete date yet. But, overall, I can state that President Macron will visit when the visit would be useful for assisting the political processes in the region. At that moment we will see clearly what document could be signed between Armenia and France,” the Ambassador said, commenting on the possibility of signing any document between the sides.
