Pashinyan accuses Azerbaijan of trying to use POWs as bargaining chip

16:38,

YEREVAN, JULY 25, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan has accused Azerbaijan of trying to use Armenian prisoners of war as a bargaining chip.

Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, Pashinyan said that Azerbaijan refuses to release Armenian prisoners of war because it tries to use them as a tool to pressure Armenia.

“Azerbaijan is trying to use the captives as a political bargaining chip, moreover not in specificity but as a tool to pressure Armenia generally ,” Pashinyan said.

He also explained why Armenia agreed to provide Azerbaijan with the minefield maps of the territories that went under Azeri control after the 2020 war.

“The international community was urging us to take steps to increase trust. And we made this step as a humanitarian step, to show our sincerity in the peace efforts,” Pashinyan said.

Emil Lazarian

“I should like to see any power of the world destroy this race, this small tribe of unimportant people, whose wars have all been fought and lost, whose structures have crumbled, literature is unread, music is unheard, and prayers are no more answered. Go ahead, destroy Armenia . See if you can do it. Send them into the desert without bread or water. Burn their homes and churches. Then see if they will not laugh, sing and pray again. For when two of them meet anywhere in the world, see if they will not create a New Armenia.” - WS