France will continue contributing to the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in the interests of the peoples of the region, reads the communique of the Elysee Palace distributed July 20 following the meeting of French President Emmanuel Macron with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Paris, TASS news agency reported.

The French president noted that he will continue to work in search of a negotiated solution, which is the only option to end this conflict on a long-term basis and in the interests of all the peoples of the region, according to the statement of the French presidential administration.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

Efsane Elesgerli,

“Khalg qazeti”