France Attempts to End Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict, Accused of Failing to Mediate by Russia

French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna announced, during a visit to Baku, today, Thursday, that it is “possible to end” the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh between Azerbaijan and Armenia, which has been going on for more than thirty years, while Russia accused Paris of failing to mediate.

Colonna confirmed, during a joint press conference with her Azerbaijani counterpart Jihon Bayramov, that “France has one goal and another desire, which is to contribute to peace and find a path to peace.” She considered it “a long and difficult process, but success is possible.”

The French Foreign Minister arrived in Baku, on Wednesday evening, for talks with President Ilham Aliyev and Foreign Minister Jihon Bayramov, on Thursday, with the aim of easing tension between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the thorny issue of Nagorno-Karabakh.

A French diplomatic source confirmed that the danger of an escalation of the situation between Armenia and Azerbaijan “is great in a region that suffers from severe instability due to the repercussions of the Russian aggression on Ukraine.”

The two former Soviet republics in the Caucasus have been in conflict for nearly thirty years over control of the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave, a region inhabited mainly by Armenians who separated from Azerbaijan after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Moscow: Washington and Paris “failed” to settle the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict

Meanwhile, the Russian Foreign Ministry considered, today, Thursday, that the United States and France “failed as honest mediators” to achieve a settlement between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

“The recent statements of American and French officials, who blamed Russia for setting up an Azerbaijani border checkpoint on the Lachin corridor, which connects Armenia and Karabakh, show that their real motive is in the South Caucasus,” ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said, in a press conference held in the capital, Moscow. It is undermining Russia’s position in the region.”

She added, “The representatives of the United States and the European Union, especially France, presented themselves as honest mediators in the Armenian-Azerbaijani settlement process, and it seems that they failed…”.

And last Sunday, Azerbaijan announced the establishment of the Lachin Corridor checkpoint, at the entrance to the Lachin-Khankendi road, a road used by Armenia to reach the Karabakh region.

This is the first checkpoint set up by Baku since the end of the war between the two sides in 2020.

(Anatolia, France Press)