The Presidents of France and Russia have agreed to resume the efforts within the OSCE Minsk Group for achieving the stable settlement of the situation around the Nagorno-Karabakh [(Artsakh)] conflict. Concrete initiatives will launch on this direction in the nearest future, French Ambassador to Armenia Jonathan Lacote said in response to the inquiry of Armenpress, commenting on the telephone conversation held between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron.

“The President of the Republic held a phone talk on Monday, April 26, with Russian President Vladimir Putin. For the current situation in the Caucasus, President Macron highlighted the necessity of recording concrete progress on matters relating to captives, humanitarian situation and heritage preservation. The two Presidents agreed to resume the efforts within the Minsk Group for achieving the stable settlement of the situation. Concrete initiatives will launch on this direction in the nearest future,” the Ambassador said.

The French envoy noted that the resumption of negotiations for the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is the priority task of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs, as it was stated in their April 13 statement.

Asked what steps the Co-Chairs are taking so that Azerbaijan will return all Armenian POWs and ending human rights violations, the French Ambassador stated that the Co-Chairs in their recent statement called for the return of all POWs.

“In their April 13 statement, the Co-Chairs called for the release of all prisoners of war and detained persons in accordance with the international humanitarian law. On April 24 Minister of State Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne received the families of captives, in the French Embassy,” the Ambassador said.

Jonathan Lacote commented also on the recent opening of the “Trophy Park” in Baku, which reportedly displays Armenian military equipment taken as a “trophy” during the recent Artsakh war and shows dehumanizing scenes, including wax mannequins depicting dead and dying Armenians soldiers, recalling his statement that war is not a subject for staging, and now the priority must be to finding a solution to the conflict.