The Azerbaijanis have not yet returned the sheep belonging to Surik Matevosyan, a resident of Armenia’s Tegh village, which they had made off with a week ago.

"We have transferred to them facts, photos which prove that the sheep are of Surik Matevosyan, but the Azerbaijanis say that there was no sheep with the shepherd. Negotiations are ongoing, and we still have high hopes that the sheep will be returned," he said.

Surik Matevosyan, 53, a shepherd of Tegh village, and about 300 of his sheep were abducted on January 13. But as a result of negotiations, they had handed Matevosyan over to the Russian peacekeepers a few hours later.