Russia: Lavrov calls on Azerbaijan to unconditionally release all Armenian prisoners of war

У вашего броузера проблема в совместимости с HTML5

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called on Azerbaijani authorities to “unconditionally” release Armenian prisoners of war as per the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement, during a statement in Moscow on Tuesday.

“Now, the Azerbaijanis detain a large part of the Armenian military personnel who were there at the end of November, after the statement had entered into force. And also the agreement in this statement was reached on the cessation of any hostile actions,” he said at a joint press-conference with his Armenian counterpart Ararat Mirzoyan.

Mirzoyan for his part alleged that Baku “continues to use open provocation, endangering a precarious regional situation.”

“Azerbaijan’s failure to fulfill its obligations assumed by the tripartite statement of November 9th, as well as false territorial claims against Armenia and the continuing aggressive rhetoric of the Azerbaijani authorities in no way contribute to the establishment of an atmosphere for sustainable peace and stability in the region,” he added.

Mirzoyan also stressed that he is ready to meet with his Azerbaijani counterpart for negotiations.

—-

SOT, Sergei Lavrov, Russian Foreign Minister (Russian): “As for our position, we are fully committed to the documents that our leaders in a trilateral format approved on November 9th last year and January 11th this year. We are not talking about the resumption of the process, but the implementation of what has already been signed and, first of all, the need to ensure reliable security and start restoring trust. And the tripartite working group at the level of deputy prime ministers on unblocking transport communications and economic ties plays a special role in this case. This will be an important measure that will allow the parties to take a more constructive attitude to what is happening, to encourage humanitarian ties, and it is necessary to seriously temper the rhetoric on both sides. This will create the conditions for a final, fully-fledged settlement. I have no doubt about it.”

SOT, Sergei Lavrov, Russian Foreign Minister (Russian): “To be exact, the statement of November 9th was about the prisoners of war who were in captivity at that time. Now the Azerbaijanis detain a large part of Armenian military personnel who were there at the end of November, after the statement had entered into force. And also the agreement in this statement were reached on the cessation of any hostile actions. However, Russian President [Vladimir Putin] in his discussion with the Azerbaijan government, with Azerbaijan President [Ilham] Aliyev and also on other levels, we have sent this message to our Azerbaijani colleagues calling for the release of all prisoners of war unconditionally. Because it would be a sign of trust that’s missing now and also it would be an important humanitarian step. We will continue to speak from these positions. But of course the final decision isn’t ours.”

SOT, Ararat Mirzoyan, Armenian Foreign Minister (Russian): “Thanks to these efforts, the return of part of the Armenian prisoners to the motherland was made possible. At the same time after 10 months Azerbaijan by breaking international humanitarian law torpedod this and other provisions of the statement or replicated its loose interpretations. Taken together, this indicates the degree of negotiability of Baku who continues to use open provocation, endangering a precarious regional situation. The penetration of Azerbaijani armed units into the sovereign territory of the Armenian republic since May 12, 2021 is unacceptable and is an open violation of international law. Peace and stability in the region is our long-term strategy. We are ready to start an open dialogue around this agenda. However, Azerbaijan’s failure to fulfill its obligations assumed by the tripartite statement of November 9th, as well as false territorial claims against Armenia and the continuing aggressive rhetoric of the Azerbaijani authorities in no way contribute to the establishment of an atmosphere for sustainable peace and stability in the region.”

SOT, Ararat Mirzoyan, Armenian Foreign Minister (Russian): “According to the principle of “all for all”, the Armenian side released, returned to Azerbaijan all Azerbaijani prisoners of war. We believe, as Minister Lavrov has already said, Azerbaijan should also return all Armenian prisoners of war and other detainees, not only in accordance with fulfilling its obligations under the provisions of the November 9 statement, but also in order to create an atmosphere of mutual trust. In this atmosphere, it is already possible to begin further processes of discussing the final settlement of all issues.”

#Russia #Lavrov #Azerbaijan

Video ID: 20210831-034

Video on Demand: https://ruptly.tv/videos/20210831-034
Contact: [email protected]

Twitter: http://twitter.com/Ruptly
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Ruptly