French President Emmanuel Macron held a phone conversation with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Friday, as major world powers look to try and stop fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Macron's Élysée office said the French President had reaffirmed to the Armenian Prime Minister France's support for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Armenia.
The United States and the UN welcomed on Thursday a ceasefire announced between Armenia and Azerbaijan after two days of violence linked to a decades-old dispute between the former Soviet states over the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh.
The speaker of the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, said Friday she plans to make a weekend visit to Armenia, where a ceasefire held for a second day after an outburst of fighting with neighbouring Azerbaijan that killed more than 200 troops from both sides.
Pelosi told reporters in Berlin she would to travel to Armenia on Saturday with a delegation that includes Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., who is of Armenian descent. Pelosi declined to give further details about the trip, saying that traveling members of the Congress “don’t like to be a target".
“In any case, it is all about human rights and the respecting the dignity and worth of every person,” she said.
The Armenian Defence Ministry said the situation on the border with Azerbaijan has remained quiet since the cease-fire took effect at 8pm Wednesday, and no violations were reported.
The ceasefire declaration followed two days of heavy fighting that marked the largest outbreak of hostilities in nearly two years.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP and Reuters)
