Kazakhstan, Astana, Dec. 1 / Trend A.Maratov /
As a co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, France is committed to facilitating the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, French Prime Minister Francois Fillon said at the OSCE Astana summit today. This can only be achieved through a balanced and negotiated political solution, he added.
"The Karabakh conflict should be resolved on the basis of the principles and elements mentioned in the statement of the U.S., Russian and French presidents in L'Aquila and Muskoka," he said.
The three presidents issued a joint statement on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict during the G8 summit in Muskoka, Canada earlier this year, calling on the Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders to accelerate work on the principles of settling the conflict to begin drafting a peace agreement.
Fillon voiced his country's position on "frozen conflicts" in the CIS at the OSCE summit, such as Transnistria, the Georgian-Ossetian conflict and the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
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 seven surrounding districts.
Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group - Russia, France, and the United States - are currently holding the peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council's four resolutions on the liberation of Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding regions.