Azernews.Az

By Rashid Shirinov

Russia and France should work together to reduce the tension around the Nagorno-Karabakh, states the Russian Federation Council’s report "Russia-France: the parliamentary vision for the future". The document was prepared by the international Committee, RIA Novosti reported.

“The atmosphere in Europe and the world largely depends on how the political dialogue between Russia and France is trust-based … However, it should be recognized that the future of Russian-French relations themselves directly depends on how independently France will be able to behave in Europe and international arena," the report states.

Russia and France along with the U.S. are the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group established to mediate between parties to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Azerbaijan and Armenia fought a lengthy war that ended with the signing of a fragile ceasefire in 1994. Since the war, Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities.

While the OSCE Minsk Group acted as the only mediator in resolution of the conflict, the occupation of the territory of the sovereign State with its internationally recognized boundaries has been left out of due attention of the international community for years.

Armenia ignores four UN Security Council resolutions on immediate withdrawal from the occupied territory of Azerbaijan, thus keeping tension high in the region.

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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov

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