On January 21, Foreign Minister of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan received the delegation headed by Isabelle Dumont, Representative of the French Presidency in the EU Council, Advisor to the President of French Republic and Toivo Klaar, EU Special Representative for South Caucasus and the crisis in Georgia.

Ararat Mirzoyan congratulated France on assuming the presidency of the EU Council, expressing confidence in its efficiency and its further contribution to the establishment of stability and security in the South Caucasus. The further development of the Armenia-EU partnership was also emphasized.

During the meeting, the humanitarian issues resulting from the 44-day war were touched upon. In this context, the immediate repatriation of Armenian prisoners of war and civilian hostages held in Azerbaijan was stressed.

The interlocutors exchanged views on undertaking steps toward increasing the level of security and stability on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. In this regard, Minister Mirzoyan underlined the importance of implementation of the agreements enshrined by the Trilateral Statement of Sochi and reached as a result of the Brussels meeting mediated by the President of the European Council. The need for full observance of the ceasefire regime, as well as the renouncement of warmongering rhetoric by the Azerbaijani leadership was stressed.

Foreign Minister of Armenia highlighted the importance of the full resumption of negotiations on comprehensive and lasting settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict under the mandate of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmanship.