Azerbaijan Refuses to Return Armenian Prisoners of War: Ararat Mirzoyan to Lithuanian Delegation

The Speaker of the National Assembly of Armenia, Ararat Mirzoyan, met with a delegation led by Lithuania's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Gabrielius Landsbergis, as reported by the NA press service.

Welcoming the minister, Mirzoyan noted that Lithuania was the first country to recognize Armenia's independence and recognized the Armenian Genocide in 2005. He highly appreciated the visit of the Lithuanian Foreign Minister during the remembrance events for the Armenian Genocide, which took place amidst the coronavirus pandemic. According to the NA Speaker, this fact demonstrates the high level of relations between the two countries.

The Speaker of Parliament addressed the Turkish-Azerbaijani aggression unleashed against Artsakh and the failure of Azerbaijan to comply with its obligations under the trilateral statement on ceasefire. Mirzoyan stated that Azerbaijan is violating the eighth point of the trilateral statement, refusing to return Armenian prisoners of war and other detained individuals by creating fabricated criminal cases against them.

He added that the issue of Nagorno-Karabakh remains unresolved as long as the right of self-determination for the people of Artsakh is not realized, and it is essential to continue negotiations in this direction within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmanship.