Azerbaijan releases 17 Armenian prisoners of war with US mediation

MADRID, 5 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The secretary of the Security Council of Armenia, Armen Grigoryan, reported on Tuesday that Azerbaijan has released 17 Armenian prisoners of war who have been repatriated to their country of origin, all through the mediation of the United States.

Grigoryan, in turn, highlighted the help provided by Washington in the mediation between Armenia and Azerbaijan to achieve this agreement.

"The repatriation of 17 Armenian prisoners of war to Armenia is the result of the agreement reached at the trilateral meeting held on September 27 at the initiative of US President Joe Biden's National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan," he explained in a message published on his official Facebook page.

In this sense, the Armenian politician, who has assured that his country remains committed to all the agreements reached in Washington, has urged the continuation of the trilateral meetings to achieve peace in the region.

"I hope that the trilateral commitment continues to have positive results for the solution of humanitarian issues and the establishment of stability and peace in the region", he declared, before urging that all agreements be applied "in a systematic way".

For his part, the Armenian Prime Minister, Nikol Pashinyan, has shown his appreciation for Washington's efforts to return the Armenian prisoners to their land. "I very much appreciate the efforts of the United States (...). I hope that with joint efforts with our international partners we will record more progress," he has written on his Twitter account.

This Monday Pashinián accused Azerbaijan of failing to fulfill its promise to release nearly twenty prisoners of war captured during the latest conflict in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.

"This is already the second time that Azerbaijan has refused to fulfill its promise to release Armenian prisoners of war. The first case was in May, when a promise was made in Brussels, and the second time is now, when Washington committed to freeing 17 Armenian prisoners of war," he said on his official Twitter profile.