Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan expressed hope that the Armenian captives held in Azerbaijan will be released. He made this statement Tuesday in Yerevan during his joint press conference with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Chairperson-in-Office, Finland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Elina Valtonen.

The Armenian FM noted that despite the established peace and the process of normalizing relations between Yerevan and Baku, there are still unresolved issues, the first of which is the matter of Armenian captives and hostages held in Azerbaijan. To note, there are no Azerbaijani captives in Armenia.

According to Mirzoyan, respective work is being carried out every day, though it is not always visible and not always effective.

“But we are working. As always, I want to express hope that there will be good news. We continue our efforts,” the Armenian FM said, and adding that on Monday in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, he discussed the matter with his Azerbaijani counterparts.

“Let us hope that these efforts will yield positive results,” the minister said.

When asked about the engagement of third countries in the transmission of information about the Armenian captives in Azerbaijan, Mirzoyan stressed the importance of such engagement, especially given the suspension of the ICRC’s activities in Azerbaijan.

“This gap must be filled. In general, our work does not exclude contact with third countries. But first and foremost, these are direct contacts with the Azerbaijani side,” the Armenian FM added.