France welcomes Astrakhan declaration

France welcomes the joint declaration adopted by the Armenian and Azerbaijani Presidents on Russian President’s initiative on October 27 in Astrakhan, according to which Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed to exchange prisoners of war and to return dead bodies with the support of OSCE Minsk Group and ICRC, French Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bernard Valero stated.

The diplomat expressed hope that the agreement will be immediately fulfilled as it will ease tension and reduce cases of violation of ceasefire regime which have become frequent lately.

“Our country co-chairing in OSCE Minsk Group together with the United States and Russia, does its utmost to help Armenia and Azerbaijan achieve peaceful, fair and long-term resolution of the conflict,” Valero said.

The French diplomat expressed an opinion that the Nagorno Karabakh conflict can be resolved by the way of transparency and dialogue only.

Bernard Valero hailed Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s initiative in the process of Nagorno Karabakh settlement.