French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said on a visit to Armenia on Tuesday that Paris agreed to deliver military equipment to the small South Caucasus nation.
Issued on: 03/10/2023 – 17:40Modified: 03/10/2023 – 19:39
1 min
Colonna travelled to Armenia after Azerbaijani forces last month swept through the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh and secured the surrender of Armenian separatist forces that had controlled the mountainous region for decades.
“France has given its agreement to the conclusion of future contracts with Armenia which will allow the delivery of military equipment to Armenia so that it can ensure its defence,” she told reporters after talks that she said touched upon security and defence.
France’s top diplomat declined to provide any details.
“I can’t give many details. If I have to go a little further, know that there are things that were already agreed between Armenia and France and that are in progress,” Colonna said.
“There is a second category of things that we can do with Armenia,” she added, noting that both countries did not seek an escalation in the region.
France, which has a large Armenian diaspora, has traditionally helped mediate the decades-old territorial dispute between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Karabakh.
Colonna also met with burn victims, many of them injured by a fuel depot explosion last month in the breakaway enclave of Nagorno Karabakh, in a hospital in Yerevan.
“You can count on our continued support,” Colonna said after the visit, promising that France would treat four victims who would be flown out this weekend.
“I’m honoured that our country is your closest, and perhaps most loyal, friend,” she told reporters.
Armenian Health Minister Anahit Avanesyan said: “This humanitarian support, this human support, is very important.”
More than 100,000 refugees have fled Karabakh to Armenia since an Azerbaijani military offensive there last month.
During the exodus, a massive explosion on the outskirts of the rebel stronghold of Stepanakert killed 170 people and injured hundreds more.
(FRANCE 24 with Reuters, AFP)