Moscow slams Macron’s scandalous statements on Karabakh settlement

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has said French President Emmanuel Macron's statements about his role in the Karabakh settlement are not supported by any results.

She made the remarks during her weekly briefing, Caliber.Az reports quoting Russian media.

According to her, on June 28 in Marseille, Macron said he was putting "pressure" on President Ilham Aliyev, that he was the only one who had a clear position on the Karabakh issue and "almost alone in keeping the subject on the global community's agenda".

"After such statements, one gets the impression that President Macron's modesty is second only to his masculinity. Of course, we never cease to be amazed by these characteristics of the French president. By the pathos with which he speaks about his role and merits in the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement, and by other issues too," Zakharova said.

It's a pity that Macron said nothing about the practical results of such fruitful work, the Russian diplomat added.

"Probably, he didn't say anything because no one has ever seen these results," the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said, pointing out that this also applied to many other cases Macron had taken up.

Moscow has long had no illusions about France's ability to contribute to the resolution of Nagorno-Karabakh's complex problems, she said.

"The sabotage of the work and, in fact, the collapse, including by Paris, of the OSCE Minsk Group in 2022; the resolution adopted last autumn by the French National Assembly and Senate condemning (as they wrote) 'Azerbaijani aggression' and demanding sanctions against the country itself and its officials; the decision initiated by Paris to deploy a civil mission to Armenia with a dubious mandate and without taking into account the views of Azerbaijan - all are clear examples of the French agenda in this regional conflict which requires knowledge, professionalism.

According to her, all these actions are not aimed at helping the sides, but at displacing Russia and realising their political and sometimes even electoral goals. In Zakharova's view, not only have they not had a positive effect on the negotiation process, but on the contrary, they have discredited France's role as an intermediary in the normalisation of Armenian-Azerbaijani relations.

"But no one has cancelled self-propaganda either. This may be the only thing they have left," Zakharova said.