French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken talked about joint action as co-chairs of the Minsk Group to help achieve a lasting peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan, AzVision.az reports citing French MFA.

The topic was discussed during the meeting held as part of Le Drian’s visit to Washington, D.C., on July 13 and 14.

“I talked about our joint action as co-chairs of the Minsk Group to help achieve a lasting peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan,” the report said.

Following over a month of military action to liberate its territories from Armenian occupation from late Sept. to early Nov. 2020, Azerbaijan has pushed Armenia to sign the surrender document. A joint statement on the matter was made by the Azerbaijani president, Armenia's PM, and the president of Russia.

A complete ceasefire and a cessation of all hostilities in the zone of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict were introduced on Nov. 10, 2020.

Armenian Armed Forces launched a large-scale military attack on positions of the Azerbaijani army on the front line, using large-caliber weapons, mortars, and artillery on Sept. 27. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-offensive along the entire front.

Back in July 2020, the Armenian Armed Forces violated the ceasefire in the direction of Azerbaijan's Tovuz district. As a result of Azerbaijan's retaliation, the opposing forces were silenced. The fighting continued the following days. Azerbaijan lost a number of military personnel members, who died fighting off the attacks of the Armenian Armed Forces.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, the Armenian Armed Forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations.

More about: #France   #US   #Azerbaijan   #Armenia