France on Monday called on Azerbaijan and Armenia to “quickly” sign a finalized peace treaty, after efforts to hammer out an agreement between the two arch-foes appeared to stall.
The two Caucasus neighbors had for decades fought for control of the Karabakh region, a mountainous area of Azerbaijan that Baku recaptured from ethnic Armenian separatists in 2023.
Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed on the text of a peace deal in March, but Baku has since outlined a host of demands — including changes to Armenia’s constitution — before it will sign the document.
“It is essential that this treaty be signed,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said at a press conference in Yerevan alongside his Armenian counterpart Ararat Mirzoyan.
“I now hope… that we can quickly move toward its signing.”
A deal to normalize ties would be a breakthrough in a region where Russia, the European Union, the United States and Turkey all jostle for influence.
Reaffirming France’s commitment to supporting Armenia’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, Barrot also pledged to continue defense cooperation with Yerevan, an arrangement that has angered Baku and Moscow.
“All this is solely aimed at helping Armenia acquire the means to defend its population, its territorial integrity, and its sovereignty,” he said.
France has previously supplied Armenia with military equipment, including CAESAR self-propelled howitzers.
Last week, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov raised concerns about Armenia’s military ties with France.
“When an ally turns to a country like France, which leads the hostile camp and whose president and ministers speak openly with hatred toward Russia, it does raise questions,” he said on May 21 during a visit to Yerevan.
Barrot said that “France and Europe are not at war with Russia or the Russian people, but we are resisting the Putinisation of the world — that is, the redrawing of borders by force on the European continent.”
