Russia says France's position on Karabakh settlement 'biased'

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) – Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Wednesday that France's position on the Karabakh settlement is biased.

In response to a question from an Anadolu reporter at a news conference in Moscow, Zakharova said Paris is pursuing its own interests in the Armenian-Azerbaijani normalization process.

"It is obvious that their position in the process of Armenian-Azerbaijani normalization is biased, in this process they did not act from the position of a mediator with the aim of returning peace to the region, but exclusively pursued their own political interests," she said.

Commenting on remarks by French President Emmanuel Macron, who alleged that Russia may threaten Armenia's territorial integrity, Zakharova called Macron a "fantasist," noting that "only a person with a very rich imagination could say such a thing."

The spokeswoman urged the French leader to explain his words as it is unclear what he means.

Such statements reveal who pushed the Armenian officials to take steps, for which they then shifted responsibility to Russia, she emphasized.

"We know these techniques of the French authorities very well from the example of the African continent. How many African countries have said that Paris behaves the same way there, first they promise, then they do not fulfill their promises, first, they declare Napoleonic plans, and at a critical moment they refuse these plans and even leave these countries, literally letting down partners and making the situation in these regions explosive," she lambasted.

"This is incitement, this is the provocative language of the French representatives," she stressed.

In an interview with French TV channels on Sunday, Macron said that France is "very vigilant to the territorial integrity of Armenia."

“France is very closely monitoring the territorial integrity of Armenia. Today, there is Russia, which is an accomplice of Azerbaijan, Türkiye, which has always supported these maneuvers; it is an unbridled force that threatens the borders of Armenia,” Macron said.