Putin slams ‘unacceptable’ Karabakh remarks from French leader

Russian President Vladimir Putin has slammed “unacceptable” comments from French leader Emmanuel Macron concerning Moscow’s role in the decades-long conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

In comments to French television on Wednesday, Macron accused Russia of purposefully “destabilizing” and “seeking to create disorder” by provoking the recent clashes between Armenia and Azerbaijan in the disputed Caucasus region.

Putin said during a meeting of the nine leaders of the Commonwealth of Independent States in Kazakhstan that Macron’s remarks “sounded incorrect” and were “unacceptable.”

Macron’s remarks “show a lack of understanding of the course of the conflict,” Putin said, adding that “Russia has always sincerely sought to resolve any conflicts, including issues related to Karabakh.”

Putin also said that the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan were welcome to Russia for talks “at any time in any place.”

He further added that in the future, “There will be an opportunity” to “discuss” the matter with the French leader.

More fighting erupts between Armenia, Azerbaijan

New clashes have erupted between Azerbaijan and Armenia, in a resumption of decades-old hostilities between Baku and Yerevan over the contested Nagorno-Karabakh region.

Speaking to France 2 television, Macron claimed Russia had stoked tensions in recent months in favor of Azerbaijan.

“What’s been happening on the border the last two years ... 5,000 Russian soldiers are allegedly there to guarantee the border, (but) the Russians have used this conflict which dated back several centuries and played Azerbaijan’s game with Turkish complicity and came back to weaken Armenia which was once a country it was close to,” Macron said. “You see what’s happening? It’s an effort by Russia to destabilize. It wants to create disorder in the Caucasus to destabilize all of us.”

Macron last week sat down with Azerbaijani, Armenian, and EU leaders to discuss the establishment of peace between Baku and Yerevan. The one-hour meeting in the Czech Republic’s capital, Prague, aimed to reach an agreement that will see a civilian EU mission head to the countries’ border to assess the situation.

However, the Azerbaijani foreign ministry on Friday reacted angrily to Macron’s “unacceptable and biased” remarks, insisting that, “Azerbaijan is forced to reconsider France’s efforts in mediating.”

Meanwhile, Russian, Armenian, and Azerbaijani foreign ministries met on Friday for peace talks in the Kazakh capital Astana.

The trio discussed joint efforts on normalizing Azerbaijani-Armenian ties.

Nagorno-Karabakh is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan but has been populated by ethnic Armenians.

Last month, simmering tensions between the estranged neighbors caused a fresh flare-up over the region, leaving nearly 100 soldiers dead on both sides. This was the most recent flare-up in tensions between the two Caucasus countries since thousands were killed in a 44-day war over the territory that ended in November 2020.

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