Immediate Priority to Return Prisoners of War and Hostages Held in Azerbaijan Unconditionally

The Acting Prime Minister of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan, emphasized the unconditional and immediate return of prisoners of war, hostages, and other detained individuals held in Azerbaijan as a priority in negotiations with the President of the European Council.

As reported by Armenpress, Pashinyan made this statement during a joint press conference with Charles Michel. "I want to emphasize that Azerbaijan's practice of not returning prisoners of war, hostages, and other detainees is not the only case of violation of the trilateral statement of November 9. As you know, the statement envisions the unblocking of all transport and economic infrastructures in the region. Azerbaijan is obstructing this process not only with obvious threats of occupying Armenia’s sovereign territory but is also, contrary to its obligations, refusing to provide Armenia with a corridor for the operationalization of the Armenia-Georgia and Azerbaijan-Russia railways," stated Pashinyan.

The Prime Minister emphasized that Armenia will carry out consistent and constructive work to unblock regional communications, restore previously existing communication routes, and build new roads, particularly the "North-South" highway, where support from the European Union is extremely important.