The release was made following mediation led by the United States. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian announced it on Tuesday.
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© MICHEL EULER / POOL / AFP
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L’Azerbaijan has released 17 Armenian prisoners of war following US mediation, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian announced after talks between the two Caucasian enemy countries were announced. While Moscow has been increasingly isolated on the international scene since its invasion of Ukraine at the end of February, the United States and the European Union have taken a major role as mediators in the process of normalization between Baku and Yerevan.
“I greatly appreciate the efforts of the United States to assist in the return of our 17 POWs,” the Prime Minister said on Twitter, adding that he hoped for further “progress in resolving humanitarian issues and establishing peace in the region.” . In the evening, the Armenian Foreign Ministry clarified that Minister Ararat Mirzoyan, his Azerbaijani counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke on the phone “at the initiative of the American side” regarding ” the October 2 meeting in Geneva” where the two men discussed a peace treaty.
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Antony Blinken welcomed the release and reiterated the “commitment” of the United States to a peaceful outcome to the conflict, adding that Washington “appreciates the positive steps of Armenia and Azerbaijan towards a peace agreement. lasting peace”. Last month, at least 286 people were killed in these clashes. A US-brokered truce ended the worst fighting between the two Caucasian neighbors since their 2020 war.
Armenia, an ally of Russia, and Azerbaijan, backed by Turkey, have clashed in two wars over the past three decades for control of Nagorny Karabakh, a predominantly Armenian-populated enclave attached to the Azerbaijan. These talks follow the meeting between Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on August 31 in Brussels, mediated by the EU.
The 2020 war between Armenia and Azerbaijan claimed the lives of more than 6,500 soldiers and came to a halt after a Russian-brokered ceasefire. Armenia ceded territories it had controlled for decades, and Moscow deployed some 2,000 Russian troops to watch over the fragile truce. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the separatist Armenians of Nagorny Karabakh unilaterally declared their independence. The ensuing conflict claimed 30,000 lives.