YEREVAN. – During the meeting we discussed the issue of returning the Armenian prisoners of war in Azerbaijan. The speaker of the National Assembly (NA) of Armenia, Ararat Mirzoyan, stated this at Saturday’s joint briefing after his meeting—at the NA—with president Gerard Larcher of the French Senate.

According to Mirzoyan, the parties stressed that the detention of POWs and civilians and the use of this issue for political trade is unacceptable. "This contradicts all the norms of international law," the NA speaker emphasized.

In his turn, Larcher stated that Azerbaijan, under the trilateral statement as well as international treaties, is obligated to immediately release all POWs. He reminded that earlier such a position was adopted by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), too.

According to the head of the French Senate, it is necessary to give a new impetus to the mediation efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs to resolve the Karabakh conflict.

Also, Gerard Larcher stated that upon his return to France, he will provide French President Emanuel Macron the details of the discussions he held in Armenia.