Armenia and Azerbaijan – Visit by Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne to Yerevan and Baku (25-28 January 2021)

At the request of President Macron, Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne, Minister of State attached to the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, visited Armenia and Azerbaijan from January 25 to 28.

Mr. Lemoyne assured the Armenian and Azerbaijani authorities of France’s total commitment, as Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, to finding a political solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. He notably underscored the importance of making progress toward resolving the urgent humanitarian issues.

In Yerevan, the minister of state was received by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ara Aivazian, with whom he discussed the implementation of a new area of economic and financial cooperation with Armenia, which could focus on the areas of transport infrastructure, water management and agricultural modernization. He also inaugurated, in the presence of the minister for education, the construction site of the future French lycée, Anatole France, in Yerevan and met with students from the French university in Armenia.

In Baku, where he was received by President Ilham Aliyev, as well as by the ministers of foreign affairs, economy, finance, culture and education, the minister of state discussed opportunities for strengthening bilateral relations as well as prospects for cooperation, connectivity and regional economic development. He visited the new rail maintenance depot in Bilajari - the result of a partnership between Alstom and ADY, Azerbaijan’s national railway operator, as well as the work of the French Development Agency (AFD) in the railway sector. He also met with representatives of the business community as well as the principal of the French lycée in Baku and the secretary general of the French-Azerbaijani University.

In keeping with its historical commitment, France remains fully committed to building lasting peace in the region.