Sputnik News Service
Friday 11:49 PM UTC
UPDATE – Macron Pledges to Continue Efforts to Promote Nagorno-Karabakh Settlement – Elysee Palace
(Updates with quotes on EU-Azerbaijan Comprehensive Agreement in paras 6-8)
PARIS, July 20 (Sputnik) – French President Emmanuel Macron assured his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev on Friday that Paris would continue efforts to facilitate the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict's settlement, the Elysee Palace said.
Earlier in the say, Aliyev arrived in Paris for an official visit.
"The two presidents discussed the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. France, which is a co-chair of the [OSCE] Minsk Group, bears a special responsibility for ensuring sustainable peace in the region. The president of the republic stressed that he would continue working on the search for a solution on the basis of talks, which is the only option to put an end to the conflict and meet the interests of all peoples in the region," the statement said.
According to the statement, Macron also welcomed the July 11 meeting of the Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers, held in Brussels under the mediation of the OSCE Minsk Group.
"The president of the republic will continue watching the situation, and France, jointly with the Russian and US co-chairs, will support any initiative aimed at progress in the settlement," the statement added.
Macron also promised to support the new EU-Azerbaijan Comprehensive Agreement, which is expected to replace the 1996 Partnership and Cooperation Agreement between Baku and the bloc, the statement added.
"The president of the republic reassured President Aliyev of his support for the prospect of the new EU-Azerbaijan agreement, which may be signed in the end of the year," the statement said.
Macron also reaffirmed that France was ready to support Azerbaijan in its economic development.
Armenian-dominated Nagorno-Karabakh has been locked in a decades-long conflict with Baku since it announced its secession from the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic in 1988.
In 1991, the region proclaimed independence from Azerbaijan and the creation of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. This move triggered a military conflict, which led to Baku losing control over the region.
The OSCE Minsk Group, chaired by Russia, the United States and France, monitors the situation in the region and has been facilitating peace negotiations since its creation in 1992.