Russia Wants to Punish Armenia: Gabriel Attal

French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal has accused Russia of "wanting to punish Armenia for its commitment to peace and respect for its sovereignty, principles that Moscow disregards in Ukraine." This was reported by Le Figaro.

The Prime Minister made this statement while speaking at the annual dinner of the Coordinating Council of Armenian Organizations of France (CCAF).

“Russia wants to punish Armenia for choosing to fight against impunity by joining the International Criminal Court and for simply choosing the path of democracy and the rule of law,” said the head of the French government.

Gabriel Attal criticized Russia's "complementary attitude, which has not condemned the use of force by Azerbaijan in Nagorno-Karabakh," where the majority of the population was Armenian until the end of last year.

The French Prime Minister added, “The so-called ‘Russian peacekeepers’ allowed for a humanitarian crisis.”

Attal called on Azerbaijan to withdraw its troops from occupied positions in Armenia, emphasizing that Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has admitted that Azerbaijani forces have advanced into several territories of Armenia.

“The issue today is to help Armenia uphold its independence, democracy, sovereignty, and territorial integrity,” he concluded his speech.