Armenian side didn't provide lists of prisoners of war immediately and completely - Lavrov

By Trend

The Armenian side did not immediately and completely provide lists of prisoners of war, and subsequently, there was an exchange of participants who took part in the events that ended on November 9, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said, Trend reports.

Lavrov made the remark at a press conference on the results of 2020.

“But now the main issue is the question that arose already in early December in the Hadrut village when at the end of November a large group of Armenian military conscripts was sent there. And they were captured in a week, ten days in early December, 62 people,” he said.

Lavrov noted that the military servicemen of Russia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan are currently checking the lists of names for the exchange of prisoners of war after the conflict in Karabakh.

Following over a month of military action to liberate its territories from Armenian occupation from late Sept. to early Nov. 2020, Azerbaijan has pushed Armenia to sign the surrender document. A joint statement on the matter was made by the Azerbaijani president, Armenia's PM, and the president of Russia.

A complete ceasefire and a cessation of all hostilities in the zone of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict was introduced on Nov. 10, 2020.

Armenian Armed Forces launched a large-scale military attack on positions of the Azerbaijani army on the front line, using large-caliber weapons, mortars, and artillery on Sept. 27. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-offensive along the entire front.

Back in July 2020, the Armenian Armed Forces violated the ceasefire in the direction of Azerbaijan's Tovuz district. As a result of Azerbaijan's retaliation, the opposing forces were silenced. The fighting continued the following days as well. Azerbaijan lost a number of military personnel members, who died fighting off the attacks of the Armenian Armed Forces.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, the Armenian Armed Forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations.