Paris is concerned about the growing tension on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border and has proposed expanding the EU mission and containing the tensions. This was stated by French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot. He also considers it necessary to sign a peace agreement between these countries as soon as possible and return the prisoners.

In response, the head of the press service of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, Ayhan Hajizade, said that France's supply of lethal weapons to Armenia and its anti-Azerbaijani position contradict the minister's statement of "concern".

Earlier, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said that the EU monitoring mission in Armenia is in fact an intelligence mission.

"They stand on our borders day and night, like spies, looking out to see if they can get in from somewhere. We also have enough intelligence information about such a "monitoring mission," "he emphasized.

In January, EU ambassadors approved the extension of the observation mission in Armenia until February 19, 2027. The composition and number will remain unchanged: 165 foreign and 44 Armenian observers.