Azerbaijan Does Not Return Armenian Prisoners Because It Is a Lever to Pressure Armenia: Prime Minister of Armenia

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has addressed the issue of the return of prisoners, stating that Azerbaijan is not taking this step in order to use it as a leverage to exert pressure on Armenia.

“Azerbaijan does not return Armenian prisoners because this is also a lever to exert pressure on Armenia, compelling the Armenian government, including under the influence of internal pressures, to make decisions that do not align with its interests. This is also done in violation of the trilateral statement of November 9. However, we will continue our efforts. Are these efforts sufficient? Our assessment is that as long as the prisoners have not been returned, these efforts are not enough. Therefore, we need to find other platforms to address this issue so that it can be resolved,” stated Pashinyan.

According to the Prime Minister, the issue of missing persons is not solely due to the aggression that took place in September; there are around 200 people missing from the 2020 war as well.

“Now, the commission on the issues of prisoners and missing persons has been reorganized under the leadership of the head of the National Security Service, and they are working and are in communication with the relatives of the prisoners and those considered missing. We must continue to work as long as the issue is not resolved,” concluded Nikol Pashinyan.