Azerbaijan has once again accused French President Emmanuel Macron of bias.
The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry has condemned Macron’s statements made on Wednesday at a joint press conference with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in Paris, calling them “unfounded and one-sided.”
“We strongly condemn the statements of French President Emmanuel Macron, <…> in which he groundlessly accuses Azerbaijan and unilaterally defends Armenia,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.
The Foreign Ministry also deemed unacceptable the accusations of disproportionate response on February 13, saying that “such biased approaches must come to an end.”
Speaking alongside Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in Paris on Wednesday, Emmanuel Macron said “the recent incidents in Syunik prove that the danger of escalation remains real.”
“France regrets that an Azerbaijani was wounded as a result of the shooting on February 12, which was also accepted by the Armenian leadership with full transparency, but France expresses regret for the disproportionate retaliatory strike by Azerbaijan, as a result of which the Armenian side suffered four deaths and one wounded. France will continue to support efforts towards a just and lasting peace. We are convinced that this can only be achieved by respecting international law, sovereignty, territorial integrity and inviolability of borders,” Macron stated.
The French President also stressed that “it is more than necessary for Azerbaijan to dispel any ambiguity regarding the territorial integrity of Armenia, as far as maps are concerned, then conscientious work should be done for border delimitation and demarcation, which will serve as a basis for the withdrawal of forces from both sides of the border.”
