President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev, President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan, and President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev issued a joint statement in Astrakhan today.

The Armenian, Azerbaijan and Russian Presidents met in Astrakhan on Oct 27, 2010, at the invitation of RF President Dmitry Medvedev.

They discussed future possibilities for reaching a settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Confirming the joint declaration signed in Moscow on November 2, 2008, the three Presidents stressed a political settlement of the conflict requires further efforts to bolster the ceasefire regime and strengthen confidence-building measures. The Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents agreed that their first step would be an immediate exchange of prisoners of war and the return of the bodies of those killed. This would be organized with the help of the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group and the International Committee of the Red Cross.