France, which co-chairs the Minsk Group, supports Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders’ efforts to take steps to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, French Minister of State for European Affairs, Pierre Lellouche, told the OSCE Permanent Council today.
“France supports the efforts of the leaders of the two countries aimed at resolving the conflict”, – Lellouche said, said in the statement of the OSCE.
Political negotiations are the only means to achieve a solution, the minister said.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and 7 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 the peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council’s resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh region and the occupied territories.
Trend
