France PM: Russia wants to punish Armenia

Speaking at the annual dinner of the Coordinating Council of Armenian Organizations of France (CCAF), French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal accused Russia of "wanting to punish Armenia for its pursuit of peace and its own sovereignty, respect for the principles that [Moscow] ignores in Ukraine," Le Figaro reported.

"Russia wants to punish Armenia for the fact that it chose to fight against impunity by joining the International Criminal Court, and for the fact that Armenia simply chose the path of democracy and the rule of law," said the head of the French government.

Also, Attal criticized "the complementarity attitude of Russia, which did not condemn the use of force by Azerbaijan in Nagorno-Karabakh," where the majority of the Armenian population lived until the end of last year. "The so-called ‘Russian peacekeeping’ forces allowed the humanitarian crisis [the]," the French PM added.

Furthermore, Attal demanded that Azerbaijan withdraw its troops from the positions they have occupied in Armenia, stressing that the president of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, admitted that the Azerbaijani forces have advanced in several areas of Armenia.

"The task today is to help Armenia defend its independence, its democracy, its sovereignty, and territorial integrity," the French premier concluded.