PARIS, March 27. /TASS/. France is concerned by the advancement of Azerbaijani troops in Nagorno-Karabakh, and urges them to return to positions defined in the November 9, 2020, ceasefire agreement, the French Foreign Ministry said on Friday night.

"France expresses regret regarding the incidents in Nagorno-Karabakh, in particular armed incidents and the advancement of troops in the districts of Parukh and Khramort. It calls upon the forces, who moved forward according to reports, to withdraw back to previous positions in accordance with the November 9, 2020, ceasefire agreement," the ministry said in a statement.

The ministry also expressed its concerns about delays in gas supplies to residents of Nagorno-Karabakh and demanded to restore it.

The Nagorno-Karabakh issue was raised during French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian’s talks with his Armenian and Azerbaijani counterparts.

The Foreign Ministry of Armenia said that at approximately 15:00 Moscow time on Thursday, Azerbaijani troops invaded the village of Parukh in Nagorno-Karabakh. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said at a government meeting on that day that Shushi, a Nagorno-Karabakh city with the population of 120,000, was on the brink of a humanitarian crisis because Azerbaijan has shut off its gas supply. The Defense Ministry of Azerbaijan rejected all reports of violating the line of contact in Karabakh.

Renewed clashes between Azerbaijan and Armenia erupted on September 27, 2020, with intense battles raging in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. On November 9, 2020, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan signed a joint statement on a complete ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh starting from November 10. According to the statement, the Azerbaijani and Armenian sides would maintain the positions that they had held and then the Armenian forces would turn over control of certain districts to Azerbaijan. In addition, Russian peacekeepers were deployed along the contact line and to the Lachin corridor, which links Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia.