France calls on Karabakh sides to abide by previous agreements

PanARMENIAN.Net - France is calling on the parties to the Nagorno Karabakh conflict to abide by the commitments taken at the Vienna summit on May 16, 2016, and the Saint Petersburg summit on June 20, 2016.

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan and Azeri leader Ilham Aliyev met on June 20 in Saint Petersburg to address the conflict, with Russian President Vladimir Putin mediating the talks. The Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents confirmed their commitment to the implementation of agreements reached at a Vienna-hosted meeting on May 16. To that end, they agreed to increase the number of international observers in the Karabakh conflict zone. Also, they expressed satisfaction that the ceasefire was now holding. Prior to that, a meeting between both leaders was organized on May 16 in Vienna, with top diplomats from the Minsk Group co-chairing countries hosting the summit.

In a statement released on the anniversary of the agreement on the cessation of hostilities reached a year ago, France urged the sides to respect the ceasefire, establish trust-building measures, and resume negotiations.

Azerbaijan on April 2, 2016 launched a large-scale offensive against Karabakh, which left hundreds killed and wounded on both sides. An agreement on the cessation of hostilities was reached on April 5 in Moscow.

As President Francois Hollande noted at recent meetings in Paris with his Armenian and Azerbaijani counterparts, the statement said, France remains fully committed to achieving a negotiated, lasting solution to this conflict that promotes stability and prosperity throughout the region.