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Azerbaijan, Armenia exchange prisoners with Russian peacekeepers’ mediation

Armenian Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinyan announced on Monday that four Armenian prisoners had returned home with the mediation of Russia and the International Committee of the Red Cross

EREBUNI AIRPORT /Armenia/, December 28. /TASS/. Azerbaijan and Armenia held a new round of a prisoners’ swap, in which two Azerbaijanis were delivered to Baku and four Armenians to Yerevan, Russian Peacekeeping Contingent Commander Lieutenant-General Rustam Muradov announced on Monday.

"Today, for the purposes of implementing the trilateral statement by the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia of November 9, 2020, a new swap of prisoners has taken place. As a result of the work done, the Russian peacekeepers under my personal control have delivered two captive Azerbaijanis to Baku and returned four prisoners to Erebuni by a plane of Russia’s Aerospace Force," the commander said.

The Russian peacekeepers "will continue contributing to the strict fulfillment of the trilateral agreement," he stressed.

Armenian Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinyan announced on Monday that four Armenian prisoners had returned home with the mediation of Russia and the International Committee of the Red Cross.

On December 15, 44 prisoners returned to Armenia from Azerbaijan with Russia’s mediation. On the same day, 12 Azerbaijani prisoners returned to their home land.

On November 9, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan signed a joint statement on a complete ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh starting from November 10. The Russian leader said that Azerbaijan and Armenia would maintain the positions that they had held and Russian peacekeepers would be deployed to the region. In addition, the Agdam, Kalbajar and Lachin districts were handed over back to Azerbaijan.

According to the statement, parts of the Martuni, Martakert and Askeran districts, the city of Shushi and almost the entire Hadrut district, which used to be part of the Nagorno-Karabakh autonomous region in the Soviet era, were also handed over to Azerbaijan.

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