Henri Reynaud: Armenian, Azerbaijani Presidents have conceived Deauville statement

 May 30, 2011 - 19:32 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - French Ambassador to Armenia Henri Reynaud believes that the Armenian and Azerbaijani Presidents have conceived the May 26 statement made on the sidelines of the G8 Summit in Deauville by the leaders of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair countries with respect to the Nagorno Karabakh conflict resolution.

It refers to the necessity to solve the conflict only peacefully, reject bellicose rhetoric and reach soonest agreement around basic principles for the conflict resolution, Reynaud told a press conference in Yerevan.

“I strongly believe that the parties have conceived the essence of the statement and, hopefully, they will display their understanding during the meeting in Kazan,” he said, adding that the statement of the three leaders is “rather strong, clear, unequivocal and targeted.”

Asked why the call to reject threats on military resolution of the conflict is addressed to the two countries, when only Azerbaijan makes such statements, the Ambassador said it is beyond his powers to interfere in the matters, for which there is the French Co-Chairman. Reynaud added he is going to adhere to the stance of his predecessors with respect to the Karabakh conflict and be restrained in the matter.

The leaders of the United States, France and Russia called on Armenia and Azerbaijan to move toward a peaceful resolution of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict.

"We...are convinced that it is time for the sides in the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh to take a decisive step toward a peaceful resolution (of the conflict)," said a joint statement by Presidents Barack Obama, Nicolas Sarkozy and Dmitry Medvedev.

"We firmly call on the leaders of the sides to prepare their people for peace, not war," the statement said. "We call on the presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia to demonstrate political will and finalize...the basic principles (of a peace agreement) during the forthcoming summit in June."

The Presidents of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan are slated to meet in June in the Russian city of Kazan, the next in a series of trilateral meetings on the conflict.