PARIS (Armenpress)–Armenian President Robert Kocharian had a working breakfast with France’s Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin on July 18 to discuss economic cooperation between the two countries–and arranged for a French delegation–led by France’s industry minister–to visit Armenia before the end of the year.
President Kocharian had met with French President Jacques Chirac on Wednesday who called for the resumption–as early as this year–of the stalled Mountainous Karabagh peace talks.
France–Russia and the US jointly co-chair the Minsk Group of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe which has for years been trying to broker a peaceful settlement of the Karabagh dispute.
Kocharian arrived in Paris on Tuesday on a working visit with French officials–including the President of the French National Assembly Jean-Louis Debr–to discuss the democratic process in Armenia–economic reforms and regional developmen’s–as well as with the President of the French Senate M. Christian Poncelet who welcomed President Kocharian as a true friend of France. Kocharian also visited the monument of the Armenian composer Komitas dedicated to the victims of the Armenian Genocide.