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Political analyst Suren Surenyants has accused French Ambassador to Armenia Olivier Decottignies of lying about Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) in a recent interview.

In a post on Telegram on Monday, Surenyants commented on Decottignies’ exclusive interview with Radiolur, where the ambassador addressed the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, making a "highly controversial statement".

During the interview, the French diplomat dismissed the claims that Nagorno-Karabakh was recognized as part of Azerbaijan in Prague in 2022 as “lies”. Instead, he argued that Armenia recognized Artsakh as Azerbaijani territory when it signed the Alma-Ata Declaration.

"It is the ambassador himself who is either lying or unfamiliar with the matter, which is particularly concerning given that France was one of the three OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing countries," Surenyants stressed.

"If Nagorno-Karabakh’s status had been predetermined since 1991, what was the purpose of the entire conflict settlement process? Out of the nearly ten proposals presented by the mediators, only one – the common state model – predefined Nagorno-Karabakh’s status. All the others left the issue to be decided in the future. Moreover, under the Meghri option, even the possibility of Nagorno-Karabakh’s unification with Armenia was discussed."

Surenyants argued that even the November 9 trilateral statement did not determine Nagorno-Karabakh’s status, emphasizing that it was only officially recognized as part of Azerbaijan during the Prague meeting between the Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders on October 6, 2022.

"Nikol Pashinyan was the first Armenian leader to effectively recognize Azerbaijan’s sovereignty over Nagorno-Karabakh, openly stating that he had no disagreements with Azerbaijan on the matter," he wrote.

"Pashinyan’s attempts to distort history by shifting responsibility onto the Alma-Ata Declaration or the events of 1994 are understandable, as he deliberately paved the way for Artsakh’s downfall and is now searching for scapegoats to evade responsibility.

"Ambassador Olivier Decottignies also has good reasons to deny reality. His president, Emmanuel Macron, was one of the architects of the Prague quadrilateral statement – a move that ultimately led to Artsakh’s fall.

"Paris and Brussels are not enemies of the Armenian people, but they have their own geopolitical interests, which required the weakening of Russian influence in the region. Macron and Michel actively encouraged Pashinyan’s ‘strategic reverse’, which led to the fall of Artsakh. Now, the esteemed ambassador is trying to salvage his president’s reputation," Surenyants concluded.