Maps Transferred to Azerbaijan Significantly Reduced Mine-related Fatalities: Karapetyan

In an interview with Ukraine's public broadcaster, Armenia's ambassador Vladimir Karapetyan raised the issue of Armenian prisoners of war held in Azerbaijan. According to Armenpress, Karapetyan noted that Azerbaijan confirms it is holding 38 Armenian servicemen, while the Armenian side believes there should be an additional 26 servicemen among the captives.

The ambassador emphasized that there was an agreement at the highest level that the exchange of prisoners would be all-for-all. The Armenian side has transferred all prisoners, including those convicted of other charges, such as murder.

According to the ambassador, the Armenian side has the relevant documentation, video footage, as well as testimonies from former prisoners who have already returned to Armenia. Karapetyan added that the Azerbaijani side has released some Armenian servicemen in exchange for minefield maps.

"As a gesture of goodwill, the Armenian leadership transferred the maps of the minefields that we had at our disposal since the 1990s, beginning from the first war in Nagorno-Karabakh," the ambassador explained.

The diplomat emphasized that the transferred maps have significantly reduced the number of fatalities related to mines. "Despite Azerbaijan's public and repeated complaints about certain inaccuracies in these maps, the number of explosions has significantly decreased following our transfer of the maps, with only one or two fatalities reported. Our maps are quite accurate, but the elapsed time should be taken into account," concluded Vladimir Karapetyan.