YEREVAN, August 30, /ARKA/. In a comment on a conference held recently in the town of Shushi in Nagorno-Karabakh (controlled now by Azerbaijan) that was attended by foreign diplomats and representatives of international organizations accredited in Azerbaijan, except for U.S. and French ambassadors, Vahan Hunanyan, spokesman for Armenian foreign ministry said:’ We reiterate our position regarding the inadmissibility of unilateral visits to the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. We are convinced that the population of Nagorno-Karabakh should be involved in the programs of international cooperation and support. At the same time, we highly appreciate the position of those countries which, having a deep understanding of the conflict, refused to participate in such unilateral action.'

Azerbaijani presidential aide Hikmet Hajiyev said on Saturday "the ambassadors of the U.S. and France ostensibly refuse to visit Shushi despite repeated invitations. This should be seen as disrespect for the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan,” ".

The U.S. Embassy in Baku responded to the criticism in a statement provided to the Azerbaijani Service of the Voice of America. It said that embassy officials regularly visit “all regions” of Azerbaijan, including the Aghdam, Fizuli and Zangelan districts (which were won back by Baku as a result of the 2020 war).

A former US ambassador to Azerbaijan Richard Kozlarich told Azerbaijani news agency Trend that if he were the US ambassador to Azerbaijan, he would not go to Shushi either until a peace agreement was concluded between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Some Azerbaijani experts beleive that the French and US ambassadors skipped the invitation to visit Shushi because it is in the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh and the United States and France, refusing to travel there hint that the “status” of the region should still be determined.

The American and French embassies had skipped a similar event in Shushi in July 2021-0-