Issued on:
France’s Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna began a visit to Azerbaijan on Wednesday to hold talks with longtime leader Ilham Aliyev on easing tensions with Baku’s arch-foe and Caucasus neighbour Armenia.
Baku and Yerevan have been locked for decades in a territorial conflict over Azerbaijan’s Armenian-majority region of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Colonna’s trip comes as both Western nations and Russia — which has traditionally mediated the conflict — accused Azerbaijan of violating the Moscow-brokered ceasefire that ended a 2020 war with Armenia.
Tensions flared again this week, with Baku setting up a checkpoint on the only land link between Armenia and Karabakh.
Colonna is due to hold talks with Aliyev — who became president after his father’s death in 2003 — and her Azerbaijani counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov.
France has moved to make efforts to mediate the conflict in recent months, with Russia distracted by its Ukraine offensive.
A French diplomatic source said the visit was important but was taking place in a “tense” context, describing relations with Baku as “difficult in recent months”.
After visiting Baku, Colonna will travel to Yerevan before making her way to Georgia’s capital Tbilisi on Friday.
(AFP)
Stay connected with us on social media platform for instant update click here to join our Twitter, & Facebook
We are now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@TechiUpdate) and stay updated with the latest Technology headlines.
For all the latest Health News Click Here
For the latest news and updates, follow us on Google News.
Denial of responsibility! NewsAzi is an automatic aggregator around the global media. All the content are available free on Internet. We have just arranged it in one platform for educational purpose only. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, all materials to their authors. If you are the owner of the content and do not want us to publish your materials on our website, please contact us by email – [email protected]. The content will be deleted within 24 hours.
