On October 22, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan received the Vice President of the International Committee of the Red Cross(ICRC) Gillies Carbonnier. 

Commending the work carried out by the ICRC, Ararat Mirzoyan emphasized the feature of the organization as a neutral, impartial structure, which has been operating in both Armenia and Artsakh since 1992. The Foreign Minister of Armenia stressed the readiness of the Armenian side to continue supporting the implementation of the ICRC mission in Armenia and Artsakh in accordance with the three-decades-old modus operandi.

During the meeting, the activity of ICRC was stressed as the only international organization present in Artsakh at the moment in the context of providing assistance to the population affected by the Azerbaijani aggression.

Minister Mirzoyan stressed that the issue of immediate repatriation of prisoners of war and civil hostages remains a priority. In violation of the  Geneva Convention and the demands  of the Statement of November 9, 2020, Azerbaijan continues to create artificial obstacles for prisoners’ repatriation. 

Ararat Mirzoyan also noted that despite the evidence presented by the Armenian side, Azerbaijan does not provide the real number of POWs and places of their detention, which creates a firm basis to assume that there are cases of forced disappearance. 

The ICRC delegation expressed its readiness to continue its assistance to the Government of Armenia to overcome the humanitarian issues created following the war.