There Are More Than 62 Soldiers' Names: Lavrov Reports on Armenian Prisoners of War

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, during a press conference summarizing 2020, addressed the issue of prisoner exchanges at the request of Armenian media. Lavrov specifically stated: “Everything has been discussed regarding the prisoners. This issue is also included in the statement of November 9. The matter has been raised in the phone conversations between President Putin, Prime Minister Pashinyan, and President Aliyev, as well as in my phone talks with the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan. This issue was also widely discussed during the meeting on January 11, when the Prime Minister of Armenia and the President of Azerbaijan visited Moscow.

If we summarize, yes, there were more issues on the Armenian side regarding this question. First of all, precise lists of prisoners and missing persons should have been compiled and presented. Azerbaijan presented a short list, which was confirmed, and all those included in that list have already been returned. Questions regarding the return of prisoners and missing persons have not arisen from the Azerbaijani side anymore.

On the Armenian side, the lists were presented not all at once and not completely. As a result, the exchange of all those individuals who participated in the events that ended on November 9 has been carried out. However, now a question has arisen stemming from the situation created in Hadrut in early December when a large group of Armenians, as I understand, conscripts, was sent there. They were captured in early December, just a few days later: 62 people. The Azerbaijani side stated that since these soldiers had been sent there after the declaration of ceasefire and all armed activities, they should be treated under a different procedure, not in the context of the November 9 statement.

President Vladimir Putin and I are inclined, nevertheless, to close the issue based on the principle of “all for all.” I have spoken with the Armenian Foreign Minister to try to clarify the lists of all those whose names are missing. It turned out that there are more than 62 soldiers’ names. Now our military maintains contact with both Armenian and Azerbaijani military personnel. These already identified lists are being provided and segregated to understand where these individuals are.

However, there is clearly a problem. If our peacekeepers were not there, the issue would likely have been resolved much more complicatedly. They are handling this issue. The commander of the peacekeeping contingent, General Muradov, is in constant contact with both the Armenian and Azerbaijani sides.