BAKU, Azerbaijan, Sept.16
Trend:
Azerbaijani Foreign Minister, Jeyhun Bayramov, received Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of France to Azerbaijan, Zakari Gross, the ministry told Trend.
Bayramov stressed the particular importance of relations between Azerbaijan and France, emphasizing the high level of cooperation between the two countries since the early years of Azerbaijan's independence.
It was noted that the existing exchanges and contacts between the two countries in various fields, including high-level visits, have greatly contributed to the further expansion of the bilateral mutually beneficial relations.
Gross conveyed the sincere congratulations of Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs of France, Jean-Yves Le Drian, to the Azerbaijani foreign minister for his recent appointment to the post. He noted that Le Drian invited his Azerbaijani counterpart to pay an official visit to Paris.
The sides exchanged views on cooperation between the two countries in political, economic, energy, trade, humanitarian, and other fields. Noting the continuation of political consultations between the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, the full use of existing economic potential, including the importance of the Intergovernmental Economic Commission, as well as successful cooperation in the field of education mentioning in this context the French-Azerbaijani University (UFAZ) as a bright example of this cooperation, the attention was drawn to the future expansion of the relations in this regard.
Bayramov informed the ambassador of France as co-chair state of the OSCE Minsk Group, on the situation in the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in details.
He noted that the process of negotiations on the settlement of the conflict has stalled due to the extremely provocative and irresponsible behavior of the Armenian side. The provocative actions of the Armenian leadership, leading to the escalation of tensions in the region, and also the fact that the Minsk Group co-chairs didn’t react to such provocative activities were noted with regret.
It was emphasized that the balanced approach to the aggressor state Armenia and Azerbaijan, the territories of which have been under occupation for almost 30 years, is wrong.
It was also pointed out that the recent large-scale armament of Armenia is an indication of the country's interest in new provocations.
Ambassador Gross stressed that France is interested in ensuring peace and security in the region, and expressed dissatisfaction with the lack of progress in the talks on resolving the conflict.
The sides also exchanged views on other issues of mutual interest.
