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The chief negotiator for the COP29 presidency said on Thursday that Azerbaijan’s “doors are still open” after France’s ecology minister withdrew from the UN climate summit over President Ilham Aliyev’s “unacceptable” remarks.

In his speech to the COP on Wednesday, Aliyev attacked Paris for alleged colonial “crimes” and “human rights violations” in its overseas territories, particularly the troubled Pacific archipelago of New Caledonia.

French Environment Minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher described these statements as a “deplorable situation” and said that she canceled her Baku trip.

He added that while relations between the two countries were already cold, the Azerbaijani leader was “using the fight against climate change for a shameful personal agenda.”

But Yalcin Rafiyev, the COP29 presidency’s chief negotiator, insisted on Thursday that Azerbaijan was promoting an “inclusive process”.

“We opened our doors to everyone who came to have very constructive, productive discussions. Our doors are still open,” he added.

Despite withdrawing, Pannier-Runacher said the team of French negotiators in Baku would not give up efforts to strike a deal “to protect the planet and its people from climate change.”

Relations between Paris and Baku have been strained due to France’s long-standing support for Azerbaijan’s arch-rival Armenia.

Azerbaijan defeated Armenia in a blitzkrieg last year, retaking the Armenian-populated Nagorno-Karabakh region, leading to the exodus of more than 100,000 Armenians.

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