Andranik Kocharyan, Chairman of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Defense and Security, told reporters that there were agreements on the return of the captives to Armenia, but they were violated he I did not know why. “Of course they did not know anything. I guess Muradov should have been on the plane. And that means that there were agreements that were violated. If there was no agreement, why did the plane have to leave? ”

Kocharyan supposes that the opponent wants to change the rules of the game once again: “Azerbaijan keeps the captives, first of all, to cause tension in Armenia. This issue has nothing to do with the territories. We will continue the process of returning the captives in different ways.”

He noted that the issue of the return of the captives was raised during the RA Prime Minister’s  meeting with the RF President, “It was a step where Russia clearly tried to invest participation in the solution of this problem. Lieutenant-General Muradov goind to accompany the prisoners to Armenia is conditioned with this.” Touching upon the question whether the issue of captives will be solved eventually, Kocharyan answered that it cannot be left unsolved, assuring that it will be one of the priority obligations of the state.

Notably, on 8 April, information was spread that a group of prisoners was returning to Armenia by plane from Azerbaijan, later rumors spread on the Internet that the plane had arrived empty. Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinyan’s office clarified to “Armenpress” that the return of the captives, unfortunately, was postponed again, as the 8th point of the 9 November trilateral statement was not fulfilled by the enemy, which is a gross violation of the post-war humanitarian process.