Envoy: France, Russia, U.S. working to achieve lasting Karabakh deal

PanARMENIAN.Net - France, together with Russia and the United States, is working to sign a lasting agreement on Nagorno-Karabakh, the newly appointed French Ambassador to Armenia Anne Louyot said in an interview with the Armenian service of RFE/RL.

The ambassador failed to provide more details but did confirm that the co-chairing states of the OSCE Minsk Group, mandated to help settle the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Louyot said "progress" was achieved in New York during the meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan with the other OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs.

"This may seem like a small step, but it was a huge step. We hope that there will be other such decisions. I can assure you that we are working with our Russian and American partners to advance the process of concluding a more lasting agreement on Karabakh," the ambassador noted.

On the sidelines of the General Debate of the 76th session of the UN General Assembly, the Minsk Group Co-Chairs met separately in New York with Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov and Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan. The Co-Chairs also hosted both Foreign Ministers at a joint meeting. The Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office (PRCiO) Andrzej Kasprzyk participated in the meetings.