On July 29, the RA Minister of Defense David Tonoyan received the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of France to Armenia Jonathan Lacote. Current issues of bilateral cooperation and regional security were discussed during the meeting.
Presenting the situation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani state border and on the line of contact between the Artsakh and Azerbaijani forces, the Minister of Defense emphasized the role of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs Russia, the United States and France (as a UN Security Council, EU and NATO member state), in easing tensions and continuing the negotiation process.
Referring to the Turkish-Azerbaijani joint military exercises, Davit Tonoyan noted that from a military point of view, their tactical nature is not worrying, but it is important that the military exercises will not turn into provocative actions in the immediate vicinity of Armenia's borders, defense structures and other infrastructure. Tonoyan also stressed that the Armenian side will closely follow the course of the military exercises and further developments.
Reaffirming France's mediating role in the exclusively peaceful settlement of the conflict, Ambassador Jonathan Lacote, in his turn, highly assessed the balanced atmosphere in Armenia, free of nationalist manifestations and calls for war.
