Azerbaijan on Thursday rebuked Paris for failing to use its influence to help calm tensions in the South Caucasus as France's Foreign Minister visited the region.
Catherine Colonna began a visit to Azerbaijan on Wednesday, intending to hold talks with longtime leader Ilham Aliyev on easing tensions with Baku and its Caucasus neighbour Armenia.
It was the first visit of a French foreign minister to Baku in six years, and comes amid renewed tensions between Baku and Yerevan over the disputed region of Nagorno Karabakh.
Armenia and Azerbaijan have fought two wars over the mountainous enclave of Karabakh.
Speaking to reporters alongside Colonna on Thursday, Azerbaijan's Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov said: "Over these past years, France has never appealed to Armenia."
France has a large Armenian minority, and President Emmanuel Macron has sought to emphasise Paris's influence in resolving the decades-long conflict.
'It is possible to succeed'
Colonna for her part said that peace between the two arch-enemies was difficult but within reach.
"It is possible to end this conflict and make peace," Colonna said, adding that the process would be "long and difficult but it is possible to succeed".
"France has only one objective and has no other wish other than to contribute to peace and to find the path to peace", Colonna told the joint news conference.
Colonna also met with Azerbaijani President Aliyev on Thursday.
After visiting Baku, she will travel to Yerevan before making her way to the Georgian capital Tbilisi on Friday.
(with AFP)
