ArmInfo. The military solution to the Karabakh conflict is ruled out. There is no alternative to the peace talks, French President Francois Hollande said at the official reception in honor of his Armenian counterpart Serzh Sargsyan.
He stressed the need to continue the efforts towards settlement of the Karabakh conflict to ensure peaceful and safe future. In this context, he expressed the willingness of Paris to contribute to this affair in every possible way. He thinks that there is nothing worse than the status quo. "The parties have been holding talks for over 23 years, but they have not achieved tangible results so far," he said. President Hollande noted that after he initiated the Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents' meeting in Paris, some success was achieved in terms missing persons only. "But there is no alternative to the talks if all of us share the opinion that the military settlement of the conflict is ruled out," he said. Francois Hollande pointed out that France will continue its intermediary efforts together with Russia and the United States. France is willing to support any initiative taken within the framework of Madrid Principles, he stressed.
President Hollande also touched on the Armenian Genocide recognition, saying that everyone should fight against denial and oblivion, because both denial and oblivion may result in recurrence of massacres. He recalled that he comes out for criminalization of the Genocide denial.
For his part, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan stressed that the stand of France and Francois Hollande regarding the Armenian Genocide is exemplary. Sargsyan also touched on the Karabakh conflict settlement process, stressing that the goal of Armenia is to establish peace. "No good has ever come out of the power of weapons. Peace has always been established where people realized the need to make mutual concessions and to listen to the interlocutor," he said.