Mentioning prisoners once a year is not enough — Grigor Balasanyan

International affairs expert Grigor Balasanyan told Alpha News that the current negotiators from Armenia simply did not want to demand Azerbaijan return prisoners.

When asked whether it was true that Armenia did not participate in COP29 in Azerbaijan, he noted that it was correct, since in essence, it would have become a circus.

“Armenia would find itself in a very bad position, which would show Azerbaijan that the Armenian delegation even comes to Baku for the climate conference, that is, the previous problems no longer exist. Moreover, Aliyev could arrogantly tell the international community that Azerbaijan and Armenia want to make peace, but you are in the way,” Balasanyan said.

“It was possible to hold talks on the return of prisoners and adopt a statement condemning the bellicose statements of the President of Azerbaijan. However, we see that on the opening day of COP29, even the ruling faction in the National Assembly of Armenia did not participate in adopting a statement on the issue of prisoners. This means that in Armenian-Azerbaijani relations, the issue of prisoners is not currently under discussion; the only task is not to offend Azerbaijan and Aliyev in any way,” Balasanyan said.

According to the expert, even before the delimitation process began, the current Armenian authorities could have set a condition: 4 villages in exchange for 23 prisoners of war, but they did not do so.

“Mentioning the prisoners only once a year is not enough. Actions must be taken to show that this is an important issue. If they had at least the desire to return the prisoners, the guys would have returned already. There were many conditions; even before the delimitation process, they could have set a condition: 4 villages in exchange for 23 prisoners of war. But I understand that what is on paper and what is in reality do not correspond to each other, so I am far from thinking that the issue of prisoners could be raised before or after COP29,” Balasanyan concluded.