“The sides touched upon the situation around Nagorno-Karabakh and the strengthening of security and stability in the South Caucasus region,” reported the Armenian government’s press office. It did not give any details.
A statement released by the office said the two men also discussed the agenda of Pashinian’s upcoming visit to Paris which will be timed to coincide with a “French-Armenian cooperation forum” to be held there.
Macron and Pashinian further “exchanged views on processes taking place in the international arena,” the statement added in an apparent reference to the escalating war in Ukraine.
Like other Western leaders, Macron has strongly condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and backed the European Union’s tough sanctions against Moscow. He phoned Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday in another attempt to stop the hostilities.
Armenia has still not officially reacted to the large-scaled military assault launched by its main ally.
Pashinian spoke with Putin by phone on Saturday. Official Russian and Armenian sources did not mention Ukraine in their statements on the call. The Kremlin said they continued to discuss “practical aspects” of implementing Armenian-Azerbaijani agreements brokered by Moscow during and after the 2020 war in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Macron too has sought to facilitate their implementation. As recently as on February 4, he and European Council President Charles Michel held a video conference with Pashinian and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.
The French presidential Elysee palace issued no statement on Macron’s latest call with Pashinian.