French FM meets Azerbaijan president over Nagorno-Karabakh

French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna on Thursday held talks with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Baku. According to the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Colonna would signal France’s commitment to supporting the talks between Azerbaijan and Armenia "for a fair, lasting peace which respects territorial integrity and the principles of international law.

" The ministry added Colonna would also "call for the rights of the Armenian population in Nagorno-Karabakh to be guaranteed and for the immediate restoration of traffic along the Lachin corridor." Nagorno-Karabakh, which had substantial autonomy under the Soviet Union, came under control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by the Armenian military in 1994 at the end of years of separatist fighting.

Armenian forces also took sizeable territory surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh itself. Apart from Azerbaijan, Catherine Colonna was also expected to pay a visit to Armenia and Georgia.