Azerbaijan releases ten armenians

After mediation by the EU, the south caucasus republic of azerbaijan has handed over ten prisoners of war to neighboring armenia.

"An important humanitarian gesture that demonstrates the mutual will to build strong trust," wrote eu council president charles michel on twitter. Both the azerbaijani and armenian sides confirmed the release of the ten armenian soldiers who were reportedly captured in mid november during skirmishes between the two hostile countries.

The EU had assured armenia’s head of government nikol pashinjan and azerbaijan’s president ilham aliyev of support in their conflict over the region of mountain karabakh at a joint meeting in brussel a few days ago. For example, help was promised for mine clearance in the region.

Previously, pashinyan and aliyev had always met through the mediation of russian president vladimir putin. Putin had negotiated a ceasefire in the 2020 war between the ex-soviet republics, in which azerbaijan captured large parts of mountain karabakh. Nevertheless, armed clashes at the border have continued ever since. Several people were killed and injured in the fighting in november.