The return of the prisoners of war (POWs) captured during the recent Nagorno-Karabakh war is among the priorities of the Russian leadership and the Russian peacekeeping contingent, Russian Ambassador to Armenia Sergei Kopyrkin told reporters.
“Very stubborn and persistent work is being done in that direction. There is some progress. Other POW groups have returned before. The works are going on,” Kopirkin said.
After the end of the war, 69 citizens detained in Azerbaijan were returned to Armenia, and one was transferred to Lebanon. Although the Armenian-Russian sides inform that negotiations are underway on the return of the hostages, the Azerbaijani leadership states that there are no captives in their country and describes the detainees as terrorists. Today Kopirkin did not comment on the statements made by Baku.
“I find it difficult to comment on the statements of the Azerbaijani side. As far as I know, the work continues,” Kopirkin said.
The ambassador also informed that the issue of providing Armenia with a Russian vaccine against coronavirus is currently being discussed at the level of corresponding structures. During his visit to Moscow, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated that Armenia needs more than one million doses.
