“I think there is a lack of understanding of the course of the conflict in these statements,” said Vladimir Putin, during a summit of countries of the former USSR in Kazakhstan.
Vladimir Putin ruled on Friday October 14 that Emmanuel Macron did not understand the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan in Nagorny Karakbakh, in response to statements by the French president, who accused Moscow of seeking to destabilize the Caucasus.
“I think that there is a lack of understanding of the course of the conflict in these statements, and visibly, of information from France on the position of the parties“, affirmed the Russian leader, during a summit of countries of the former USSR in Kazakhstan. He added that Emmanuel Macron’s comments were “incorrect” and “unacceptable“, while affirming that he will speak about the subject again with the French president”if the opportunity arises“.
“Destabilizing maneuver”
During an interview on the France 2 channel, Emmanuel Macron said on Wednesday: “Russia interfered in this conflict, it obviously played the game of Azerbaijan with Turkish complicity and it came back there to weaken Armenia.» «It is a destabilizing maneuver by Russia which, in the Caucasus, seeks to create disorder to weaken and divide us all“, he had estimated.
On Friday, Azerbaijani diplomacy blasted statements “unacceptable” and “biasedby Emmanuel Macron. Vladimir Putin has said that he will talk about the subject again with the French president “if the opportunity arises“. He also invited Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to meet in Russia. “Russia has always sincerely sought to resolve conflicts, including issues related to Karabakh“, argued Mr. Putin.
At the same time, the head of Russian diplomacy, Sergei Lavrov, and his Armenian and Azerbaijani counterparts, Ararat Mirzoian and Djeïhoun Baïramov, met the same day in Astana for negotiations. Russian diplomacy said the trio had discussed “common effortsto normalize relations between Yerevan and Baku.
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Russia’s ally Armenia and Turkey’s backed Azerbaijan have clashed in two wars over the past three decades for control of Nagorny Karabakh, an Armenian-majority separatist enclave. The last war, in the fall of 2020, killed 6,500 people and ended with a ceasefire mediated by Russia, which deployed a contingent of peacekeepers on the spot.
But in recent months, the European Union and the United States have taken the lead in talks to negotiate a peace treaty, as Moscow is embroiled in its military intervention in Ukraine. Despite these Western mediation attempts, the situation remains unstable. In September, at least 286 people were killed in fresh clashes on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border. On Friday, Vladimir Putin invited Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to a new joint meeting in Russia, without setting a concrete date for the time being.
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