Klaar: strong political will needed by Azerbaijan and Armenia to achieve comprehensive settlement

YEREVAN, Nov. 28. /ARKA/. EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus and the crisis in Georgia Toivo Klaar shared his reflections after his visit to Azerbaijan at the end of last week.

‘1. Important commitment by Azerbaijani president to facilitated format. 2.) Many challenges remain; restraint and strong political will be needed by Azerbaijan and Armenia to reduce tensions to achieve a comprehensive settlement,' he twitted.

Last week Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said that Azerbaijan did not want France to take part in its peace talks with Armenia, because Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan wanted French President Emmanuel Macron to also attend them.

The four-way meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron and European Council head Charles Michel was slated for December 7 in Brussels.

Aliyev accused Macron of "attacking" and "insulting’ Baku and therefore it should not act as a go-between.

Armenian Foreign Ministry spokesman Vahan Hunanyan retaliated by saying that Yerevan wanted Macron to take part in the Brussels summit because Aliyev and Pashinyan met in Prague on October 6 in the presence of both Michel and Macron.

“It’s logical that the format of the meeting and the composition of its participants be the same,” Vahan Hunanyan said. He also denied Baku's accusations that Yerevan was torpedoing the peace process.

'Armenia is ready for December 7 meeting in line with arrangements and format agreed upon in Prague ,' he said.-0-