Working visit of President Serzh Sargsyan to the French Rerpublic

 President Serzh Sargsyan who has made a working visit to Paris at French President Francois Hollande’s invitation on October 27 held a meeting with Francois Hollande at the Elysee Palace. The Armenian and French Presidents discussed a broad range of issues concerning the busy Armenian-French agenda and touched upon contemporary regional and international issues and challenges. Serzh Sargsyan thanked President Hollande for the role France plays in the OSCE Minks Group co-chairmanship and for initiating a meeting aimed at the resolution of the NKR conflict in Paris.

At the meeting the interlocutors underscored once again that the special relationship between Armenia and France which has continuously been strengthened through high-level mutual visits, inter-parliamentary ties, expansion and promotion of decentralized cooperation and through collaboration in all spheres of reciprocal concern, including international organizations, bears testimony to the age-old friendship of the Armenian and French peoples rooted in shared values. Serzh Sargsyan and Francois Hollande expressed satisfaction with the fact that besides high-level political dialogue, economic ties have also actively been developed and reinforced: French investment volumes in the Armenian economy today comprise about one billion U.S. dollars.

President Hollande thanked Serzh Sargsyan for Armenia’s active involvement in international peace-keeping missions, as well as for its readiness to participate in UN actions in the African region.

Touching upon the NKR conflict resolution process, President Serzh Sargsyan stressed that Armenia has always spoken up for resolving the conflict exclusively through peaceful negotiations and noted that he highly appreciates the OSCE Minks Group’s efforts targeted at pushing the negotiation process forward and establishing long-lasting peace and stability in the region.

Following the meeting of the Armenian and French Presidents, negotiations between the Armenian and Azeri Presidents over the NKR conflict kicked off at the Paris Marine Palace with the participation of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs. Later on, their results will be summed up at a joint meeting of the French, Armenian and Azeri Presidents and the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs.

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On the initiative of French President Francois Hollande, negotiations over the NKR conflict were held on October 27 at the Paris Marine Palace. After meeting the French President, the Armenian and Azeri Presidents conducted negotiations with the participation of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs and the personal representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Anjey Kasperchik, followed by a private conversation between Serzh Sargsyan and Ilham Aliyev. The negotiation results were summed up late in the evening at a joint meeting between Presidents Francois Hollande, Serzh Sargsyan, Ilham Aliyev and the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group Igor Popov of Russia, James Warlick of the USA, Pierre Andrieu of France and the personal representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Anjey Kasperchik. The participants attached great importance to continuing dialogue within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmanship and confidence-building efforts in order to make progress in peaceful negotiations. The absence of an alternative to the peaceful resolution of the conflict was stressed. The parties made an arrangement to proceed with high-level negotiations.

On behalf of the French President, a supper was held in honor of the Armenian and Azeri Presidents at the Elysee Palace on the evening of October 27.