News - What did Armenia premier, France president discuss?

As reported earlier, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Thursday met with French President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace. The interlocutors discussed the Armenia-France multi-sector agenda, and the importance of continued implementation of consistent steps aimed at the development and strengthening of friendly relations was emphasized, the Armenian PM’s office informs. Pashinyan emphasized the constant support of friendly France, and underlined Armenia's readiness to implement steps aimed at the development of all domains of bilateral interest. The French president, for his part, reaffirmed his unconditional support to Armenia, as well as his readiness for consistent development of France-Armenia bilateral relations. Next, the Armenian premier reflected on the results of the discussions on the draft peace treaty with Azerbaijan, noting that 80 percent of the clauses of this draft have been agreed upon and Armenia is ready to sign the treaty based on it and continue further discussions. Also, Nikol Pashinyan stressed the steps aimed at ensuring peace and stability in the region, expressing his belief that the signing of this treaty will contribute to the solution of this issue. The Crossroads of Peace project of the Armenian government were also discussed. In this connection, Pashinyan stressed that Armenia is ready to unblock regional channels—and based on the principles of sovereignty, jurisdiction, reciprocity, and equality. In turn, Emmanuel Macron expressed France's support for the steps of the Armenian government aimed at peace and stability, and at the same time welcomed the Crossroads of Peace project. Reference was made also to the social problems of Armenians forcibly displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia, and the Armenian government's housing program for them. In this regard, Pashinyan and Macron emphasized the consistent support by the international community in addressing and solving the existing problems. The prime minister of Armenia and the president of France discussed Armenia-EU cooperation as well. In this connection, Nikol Pashinyan noted that he expects the continued support of friendly France in this cooperation. Also, the Armenian premier highly appreciated the role of the EU monitoring mission in Armenia, and stressed the important role of France in starting Armenia’s visa liberalization dialogue with the EU and supporting the country through the EU European Peace Facility.