Armenian, Russian Foreign Ministers Discuss Return of Armenian Captives from Azerbaijan

MOSCOW — Armenia’s Foreign Minister Ara Aivazia, met in Moscow with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Wednesday February 17.

The interlocutors underscored the high level of allied cooperation between Armenia and Russia, both in bilateral and international platforms, within the framework of regional security and integration formats. The sides highlighted the importance of holding sectoral consultations between the Foreign Ministries of the two countries, and maintaining an active dialogue at different levels.

The Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Russia discussed in detail the issues of regional security and stability. They exchanged views on the implementation of the provisions of the November 9 and January 11 trilateral statements. In this regard, within the urgent humanitarian issues, Minister Aivazian stressed the importance of repatriation of prisoners of war and captured civilians, noting that the artificial delay of the issue by Azerbaijan causes serious obstacles for the implementation of trilateral statements.

Minister Aivazian highly commended the efforts of the Russian side aimed at improving the humanitarian situation in Artsakh.

Issues regarding the resumption of the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process were also on the agenda of the meeting. Both sides emphasized the importance of addressing the core issues of the settlement within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmanship.