The statement of the president of Azerbaijan, in fact, contributes to the disruption of the process of exchange of captives through the mediation of the Red Cross and the Russian Federation. The office of Armenia’s Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinyan stated this to Armenian News-NEWS.am, referring to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s statement that Baku had returned “all Armenian captives,” and solely "terrorists and saboteurs" were still being held in Azerbaijan.
"Armenia has no saboteurs or terrorists anywhere, and such wording proves once again that Azerbaijan is trying to make the issue of captives a bargaining chip. Such actions and statements contradict the spirit and logic of the tripartite statement of November 9, 2020; in particular, its 8th point where it is noted that, ‘An exchange of prisoners of war, hostages and other detained persons and bodies of the dead is to be carried out,’” they added.
