YEREVAN. – One of the obligations within the framework of the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh [(Artsakh)] conflict is the protection of the cultural and spiritual heritage of Karabakh. Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne, Secretary of State at the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs of France, said this at Saturday’s press conference in Yerevan.

The French official recalled that a part of the world heritage is in the territory controlled by Azerbaijan. "It is a world heritage," Lemoyne stressed.

According to him, for the protection of cultural heritage, cooperation should be established with international organizations.

On November 9, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a joint statement on a complete cessation of hostilities— which Azerbaijan had launched on September 27—in and around Artsakh. Accordingly, Russian peacekeepers are deployed in the region to monitor the implementation of the ceasefire and the cessation of hostilities. But this statement also stipulates the handover of part of Artsakh lands to Azerbaijan.