French President Emmanuel Macron voiced on Thursday night strong support for Armenia in its ongoing border standoff with Azerbaijan.
“Azerbaijani armed forces have crossed into Armenian territory. They must withdraw immediately,” Macron tweeted after a phone call with Pashinian.
Pashinian gave some details of their conversation during an emergency session of the Armenian parliament.
“The French president said that he is considering taking the issue to the United Nations Security Council and that with a UN mandate France is also prepared to provide, if necessary, military support to international efforts to resolve this issue,” he told lawmakers.
“I find it very important that permanent members of the Security Council communicate with each other on this topic. We are very closely monitoring these developments and making our positions clear,” added the prime minister.
In a statement on the phone call, the presidential Elysee Palace said Macron reaffirmed “France's commitment to the territorial integrity of Armenia.” It also said that Paris would like the UN Security Council to try to ease tensions in the region and “restore stability and security” there.
Armenia maintains close military ties with Russia on a bilateral basis and as a member of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), a Russian-led military bloc uniting six ex-Soviet states. It has asked both Moscow and the CSTO as a whole to help it deal with Azerbaijani troops which it says crossed several sections of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border this week.