YEREVAN, JULY 20, ARMENPRESS. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of France has commented on the latest meeting between the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan held in Tbilisi, Georgia.

“France welcomes this meeting, as we are determined to promote a lasting peace in the South Caucasus. France reaffirms its support for continuing direct talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan to enable those countries to create favorable conditions for normalizing relations”, the French Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

On July 16, the meeting of Foreign Minister of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan and Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan Jeyhun Bayramov was held in Tbilisi, hosted by Foreign Minister of Georgia Ilia Darchiashvili.

During the meeting, Ararat Mirzoyan and Jeyhun Bayramov touched upon a wide range of issues regarding the normalization of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan. In this regard, sides discussed the implementation of previously undertaken commitments and exchanged views on further possible steps.

Minister Mirzoyan reiterated the position of the Armenian side that the political settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is essential within the process of achieving sustainable and lasting peace in the region and stressed the importance of using the institution and experience of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmanship in accordance with its international mandate.

The Foreign Minister of Armenia highlighted the importance of addressing humanitarian issues, including the release and repatriation of Armenian prisoners of war and clarification of the fate of missing persons.

The willingness of the sides to continue the discussions was underscored.