The capture of the Azerbaijani servicemen by the Armenian military on December 18 is a deterrent for the Azerbaijani side. Andranik Kocharyan, Chair of the Standing Committee on Defense and Security of the National Assembly (NA) of Armenia and an MP of the ruling majority "Civil Contract" Faction in the NA, said this Tuesday to reporters.

However, the MP preferred not to answer the question about their immediate return.

At the same time, he suggested to the reporters to pay attention to the fact that it is for the first time in the post-war period that the Armenian side had captured Azerbaijani soldiers who had crossed the border.

Kocharyan is convinced that this move will be a deterrent for Baku if the Azerbaijanis decide to repeat such attempts in the future.

To the question why the captured Azerbaijani military were returned so quickly and whether the Armenian side received anything in return, the ruling force MP responded: “No comment.”

Kocharyan answered as follows the further attempts by the media to ask questions on this topic: "I answer only the questions that I consider necessary to answer. You forget that issues related to the country's security may be followed by other issues, too. You have to be ready for that."

And when asked why the captured Azerbaijani soldiers were not exchange with the Armenian captives still held by Azerbaijan, the Armenian MP responded: "How do you know what will follow it? These issues are not subject to discussion."

Andranik Kocharyan added that he did not know the details.