Russia, in its contacts with Azerbaijan at various levels, is calling for the return of Armenian prisoners of war without preconditions. This was stated by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov during a joint press conference in Moscow with Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan.
The Russian Foreign Minister first emphasized that the 9 November trilateral statement referred to those prisoners of war who were in captivity at that time.
“At this moment, the Azerbaijanis are holding a significant group of Armenian servicemen who ended up there at the end of November, when the statement had already entered into force and an agreement had been reached to cease all hostilities. The President of Russia, in his contacts with the Azerbaijani leadership and President Aliyev, as well as we at other levels, convey this message to our Azerbaijani colleagues and call for their release without preconditions, because that would be an important humanitarian step and a significant step towards building the trust that is so needed,” said Lavrov.
He added that they will continue to maintain these positions, but noted that the final decision, in any case, does not depend on them.
Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan noted that Armenia has long fulfilled its obligation: under the “all for all” principle, Armenia has returned all Azerbaijani prisoners of war. “We believe that Azerbaijan, for its part, must return all prisoners of war and other detained persons, not only as the fulfilment of its obligations, but also in order to create an atmosphere of mutual trust. In that atmosphere, it will already be possible to move on to further discussions and the resolution of all issues,” said Mirzoyan.
