YEREVAN, October 4. /ARKA/. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan today reiterated his government’s readiness to begin the process of delimitation and demarcation of borders between Armenia and Azerbaijan, saying the process should begin with creating all the necessary conditions for it.
“Of course, the early return of (Armenian) prisoners of war, hostages and other detainees still held in Azerbaijan is a very important issue,” he said on Monday at a joint press conference with Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė in Vilnius.
The day before, during a meeting with representatives of the Armenian community of Lithuania, Pashinyan said that he was ready to meet with the President of Azerbaijan under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs.
Pashinyan noted that Azerbaijan wants Armenia to hand over to it the maps of minefields in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone that pose a humanitarian threat.
“We handed over some of the maps (in exchange for 15 Armenian POWs) and as I said yesterday, ahead of a potential meeting (with Aliyev), I am ready to take all those maps that pose a humanitarian threat and do not have a security significance for us,” he said.
At the same time, Pashinyan said that President of Azerbaijan, in turn, must bring with him “all Armenian prisoners of wars, hostages and other detainees, held in Azerbaijan.”
Pashinyan said not only those Armenian captives whose captivity has been officially confirmed must be returned (in exchange for maps), but also those of Armenian citizens who, according to ‘our information, are in Azerbaijani captivity, but whose captivity has not been confirmed.”
He added that it is not easy to start the era of peaceful development of the region, adding that on the other hand there is no alternative to peace.
Armenia’s Investigative Committee has published today the latest updated data on the losses of the Armenian side in last year’s 44-day war in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone, saying 3,788 people were killed and 224 servicemen and 22 civilians were missing.
As of now, 108 military personnel and civilians have been returned home from Azerbaijani captivity.