On May 12 Armenian Minister of Foreign Affairs Edward Nalbandian met French Minister of Foreign Affairs Jean-Marc Ayrault in France, Press Service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia informed “Armenpress”.

The interlocutors agreed that the use of force in Nagorno Karabakh is unacceptable, and the conflict settlement through negotiations has no alternative. They stressed the importance of agreements on establishing and maintaining 1994-1995 ceasefire regime. In this regard, Ministers highlighted the need to install investigation mechanisms on ceasefire violations and incidents.

Edward Nalabandian also met with French Secretary of State for European Affairs Harlem Désir. Issues related to the stabilization of the situation in Karabakh conflict zone and the steps towards the peaceful settlement of the conflict were discussed during the meeting. In this regard, the sides emphasized that the main objective of the meeting of the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan proposed by the three Co-Chairs is to strengthen 1994 ceasefire agreement.

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict entered its modern phase when the Armenian SRR made territorial claims against the Azerbaijani SSR in 1988.

A fierce war broke out between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. As a result of the war, Armenian armed forces occupied some 20 percent of Azerbaijani territory which includes Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent districts (Lachin, Kalbajar, Aghdam, Fuzuli, Jabrayil, Gubadli and Zangilan), and over a million Azerbaijanis became refugees and internally displaced people.

The military operations finally came to an end when Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in Bishkek in 1994.

Dealing with the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is the OSCE Minsk Group, which was created after the meeting of the OSCE Ministerial Council in Helsinki on 24 March 1992. The Group’s members include Azerbaijan, Armenia, Russia, the United States, France, Italy, Germany, Turkey, Belarus, Finland and Sweden.

Besides, the OSCE Minsk Group has a co-chairmanship institution, comprised of Russian, US and French co-chairs, which began operating in 1996.

Resolutions 822, 853, 874 and 884 of the UN Security Council, which were passed in short intervals in 1993, and other resolutions adopted by the UN General Assembly, PACE, OSCE, OIC, and other organizations require Armenia to unconditionally withdraw its troops from Nagorno-Karabakh.