French President Macron calls for dialogues between Armenia, Azerbaijan

French President Emmanuel Macron has called for the resumption of dialogues between Armenia and Azerbaijan to solve their ongoing border conflict.

Speaking at a press conference with visiting Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Monday, Macron urged the two countries to reestablish talks "immediately" in order to achieve "enduring peace".

"The use of force cannot be the solution for Armenia, nor for Azerbaijan, and dialogue must be restored immediately," he said, adding that all issues must be tackled "exclusively" through talks.

Armenia and Azerbaijan have been at loggerheads over the mountainous region of Nagorno-Karabakh since 1988. Peace talks have been held since 1994, when a ceasefire was agreed, but there have been sporadic minor clashes since then, Xinhua news agency reported.

A new round of armed conflict broke out along the contact line on September 27, 2020, before Russia brokered a ceasefire on November 9, 2020.

--IANS

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