On November 10, Foreign Minister of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan, who is on a working visit in Paris, held a meeting with the President of the French Senate Gérard Larcher.

The interlocutors warmly recalled the visit of the delegation led by the President of French Senate to Armenia in April of this year, and the effective discussions held in an amical and friendly atmosphere.

The sides discussed issues on security and stability in the South Caucasus region. Minister Mirzoyan emphasized the unconditional support of the French Parliamentarians to Armenia, Artsakh and the Armenian people during and following the 44-day war.

Minister Mirzoyan once again expressed his gratitude to friendly France, particularly the French Senate for the resolution of November 25, 2020 , which demonstrates the commitment of French people to human rights and universal values, and is essentially important for the just settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

During the meeting the interlocutors stressed that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict should achieve its comprehensive and lasting resolution through peaceful negotiations, within the mandate of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmanship.

The humanitarian issues resulting from the Azerbaijani aggression against Artsakh were also touched upon. In this context, the sides underlined the imperative of the release of the Armenian prisoners of war and other detained persons by Azerbaijan, in accordance with its assumed commitments.

The interlocutors also discussed the issue of the protection of the Armenian historical, cultural and religious heritage of Artsakh in the territories fallen under the control of Azerbaijan. In this regard, the visit of the UNESCO assessment mission to Artsakh was highlighted, which has not been implemented so far due to the destructive approach of Azerbaijan. Ararat Mirzoyan noted that international humanitarian organizations should have an unimpeded access to Artsakh, emphasizing the inadmissibility of the attempts to politicize the humanitarian issues.

Ararat Mirzoyan and Gérard Larcher commended the close cooperation between the two countries at the inter-parliamentary dimension, which is one of the key milestones of the Armenian-French privileged relations, emphasizing the significant contribution of the friendship groups formed in the Armenian and French parliaments. The sides emphasized the high level of cooperation between Armenia and France in multilateral platforms, including the European Parliament, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.