France will seize the UN Security Council after the new clashes between Armenia and Azerbaijan, during which at least 49 Armenian soldiers were killed, the Elysee announced on Tuesday.
“France will bring the situation to the United Nations Security Council, of which it currently holds the presidency,” said the Elysee after a telephone conversation between French President Emmanuel Macron and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian. overnight from Monday to Tuesday.
Macron calls for “respect for the territorial integrity of Armenia”
President Macron “continues to call for “strict respect for the ceasefire and respect for the territorial integrity of Armenia”, added the French presidency. He “stands available” to discuss with the President Azerbaijani Ilham Aliyev and “at the disposal of the parties so that all the issues relating to and resulting from this conflict are settled exclusively through negotiation”.
Russia, which claims the role of arbiter in the Caucasus, announced that it had negotiated a ceasefire agreement in force since 6 a.m. which has not been confirmed at this stage either by Baku or by Yerevan. Armenia and Azerbaijan, two rival ex-Soviet republics in the Caucasus, have clashed in two wars over the past three decades for control of the Nagorno-Karabakh region, the last of which was in 2020.
A decrease in bombardments during the day on Tuesday
The new fighting, which erupted overnight, is the deadliest since the 2020 war. It comes as Moscow, which deployed a peacekeeping force to the region after the last war, has its hands full with its difficult military offensive in Ukraine.
Tuesday, early afternoon, Yerevan reported a decrease in bombing, despite a still “tense” situation. At the same time, Azerbaijan claimed to have “fulfilled all its objectives” on the border with Armenia. Baku believes that “the responsibility for the escalation lies entirely with the Armenian political leadership”.