Azerbaijani, French FMs agree to deepen political, economic ties

Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov has met French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Yves Le Drian on the sidelines of the 76th session of the UN General Assembly.

At the meeting, the ministers had detailed exchange of views on the current state of bilateral relations between Azerbaijan and France, and expressed mutual interest in developing relations, especially in the political, economic and humanitarian spheres, Report has learnt from the Foreign Ministry.

Briefing his counterpart about the large-scale restoration and construction work being carried out in territories liberated from the Armenian occupation, Ceyhun Bayramov gave detailed information about cases of purposeful destruction of Azerbaijani territories by Armenia, looting and falsification of cultural heritage during the occupation.

The Azerbaijani foreign minister further told his French counterpart that humanitarian consequences of the decades-long deliberate pollution of the liberated territories by Armenia with mines and other explosives are a major threat to human life. They stressed the importance of Armenia's fulfillment of international humanitarian law obligations to hand over accurate maps of minefields to Azerbaijan.

During the meeting, Ceyhun Bayramov also said that Azerbaijan supports the normalization of the relations on the basis of the principles of international law, and informed the French minister of steps taken by Azerbaijan to this end. Azerbaijan is ready to cooperate with all parties, who intend to contribute to strengthening peace and security in the region, the minister added.