Russia welcomes Armenia-Azerbaijan joint statement

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 8, ARMENPRESS. Russia welcomes the prisoner swap deal between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the Russian foreign ministry has said.

“We welcome the agreement between Baku and Yerevan regarding the release of Armenian and Azerbaijani servicemen,” Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said in a statement.

She added that Russia is ready to “continue providing possible support on unblocking of transport connections, border delimitation, signing of the peace treaty and contacts between civil societies.”

Zakharova said that Russia also welcomes Armenia’s support to the bid of the Republic of Azerbaijan to host the 29th Session of the Conference of Parties (COP29) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, by withdrawing its own candidacy.

Following the talks between the Office of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia and the Presidential Administration of the Republic of Azerbaijan, an agreement has been reached on taking tangible steps towards building confidence between two countries.

Driven by the values of humanism and as a gesture of goodwill, the Republic of Azerbaijan releases 32 Armenian military servicemen.

In its turn, driven by the values of humanism and as a gesture of goodwill, the Republic of Armenia releases 2 Azerbaijani military servicemen.

As a sign of good gesture, the Republic of Armenia supports the bid of the Republic of Azerbaijan to host the 29th Session of the Conference of Parties (COP29) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, by withdrawing its own candidacy. The Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan do hope that the other countries within the Eastern European Group will also support Azerbaijan’s bid to host. As a sign of good gesture, the Republic of Azerbaijan supports the Armenian candidature for Eastern European Group COP Bureau membership.

The Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan will continue their discussions regarding the implementation of more confidence building measures, effective in the near future and call on the international community to support their efforts that will contribute to building mutual trust between two countries and will positively impact the entire South Caucasus region.