PARIS (Reuters) – France wants international supervision to implement a ceasefire in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict amid concerns in Paris that Russia and Turkey could strike a deal to cut out Western powers from future peace talks, the presidency said on Thursday.
Moscow co-chairs the Minsk group overseeing the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute with Washington and Paris, but they were not involved in the deal signed by Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan to end six weeks of fighting over the enclave.
Since the ceasefire, Russia has held talks with Turkey, a key Azerbaijani ally and a harsh critic of the Minsk group, that could lead to Ankara deploying troops to the region.
“The end of the fighting should now allow the resumption of good faith negotiations in order to protect the population of Nagorno-Karabakh and ensure the return of tens of thousands of people who have fled their homes in recent weeks in good security conditions,” President Emmanuel Macron’s office said after calls with the Azerbaijani president and Armenian prime minister.
France’s population includes between 400,000 to 600,000 people of Armenian origin. Macron has been careful not to back a side in the conflict, but has faced criticism at home that he did not do enough to help Yerevan.
“We want the Minsk Group to play its role in defining the surveillance (of the ceasefire),” a French presidential official told reporters.
The source said Paris was pushing for “international supervision” of the ceasefire to allow the return of refugees, organize the return of foreign fighters, especially from Syria, and to start talks on the status of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Relations between France and Turkey have been particularly bad for several months. Paris has accused Ankara of fueling the crisis in the Caucuses.
“We understand that the Russians are talking to the Turks regarding a possible formula, which we don’t want, that would replicate the Astana (process) to divide their roles in this sensitive region,” the official said.
“We can’t have on one side Minsk and the other Astana. At one point the Russians have to make a choice.”
The Astana forum enabled Russia and Turkey to discuss between them how to handle the Syrian conflict and brush aside Western powers.
no…. he can play sock footsie with pashinoglu when pshinoglu is out
The world’s most famous Real Estate agents are Putin and Erdoghan. After consultation and mapping of the areas, they will find a desire location, then start for negotiation of the price tag. If there are disagreements about the price after lengthy arguments, then they let customers decide for themselves. The winner agent will get the most and the loser agent will get the less. Agents will be happy at the end after a friendly shake hand and will move to another location for remapping a new area.
The reason we have lost our historical lands toward our hateful enemy, we never act as an agent we always act as a good customer. This is what we have in Armenia today bunch of disorganized, angry, demoralized, psychopath loser customers. Wake up Armenia find that right Armenian agent ASAP.
The president of Frncais Macron has beautiful ideas, compasional, that he triggers the initiative and realizes it, in which case, as our sad history reminds us, we do not want beautiful so-called humanitarian ships that empty our territories in agreement with the Turkish today the Azeri, we do not want rice parcels, we do not want sign of friendship … we want military acts, training and equipment, because the world knows what Turkish wants, the final continuation of the Armenian and The Armenian, except one, in a Turkish museum. all these great organizations of women and men excel in the art of rethorics to let crimes come true and send packets of rice. All these organizations and the majority of the women and men who make up them feign ignorance to accredit and repeter the territorial arguments of the Turko-azeri while Azerbaijan has only existed for 100 years and the Armenians have lived majority on these lands by marking them with a culture worthy of humanity for centuries. The Armenian land Nakhitchevan or the Turkish and the Azeri have hastened to reduce to dust our secular headstones millenairespatrimoine of humanity, what was the intervention of UNESCO? Not a single conviction or action. Finally the Russian said and in a split second acts, co-chair of the Minsk group, while Mr. MACRON and BIDEN talk about pack of rice in hand. I do not want to be ungrateful because all successive French Presidents have branded with their seals this Franco-Armenian friend of meritee but always after the crime to bring crysantheme and … rice. Enough rice but diplomatic weapons and so necessary weapons to defend us and live in peace.
WAKE UP ARMENIANS WE HAVE BEEN HUMILIATED AND LED BY THE NOSE WE NEED SMART LEADERS TO OUTSMART THE ENEMY. ARMENIANS ARE ASKING HOW COULD THIS HAVE HAPPENED??????? WE NOT ONLY FEEL HUMILIATED BUT SAD AND IN SHOCK THE NEWS MEDIA MADE A FOOL OUT OF US.