Azerbaijan releases eight Armenian prisoners after mediation between France and EU

Azerbaijan has released eight Armenian prisoners in an attempt to facilitate new talks with France and the European Union on the border conflict between the two countries, said French President Emmanuel Macron and European Council President Charles Michel.

“Azerbaijan’s release and compensation to Armenia of 8 Armenian prisoners is another sign of positive development following the meeting with @EmmanuelMacron, @azpresident and @NikolPashinyan,” Charles Michel wrote on Twitter.”The EU supports stability and prosperity in the region,” Michel added.Macron added that France had sent over a plane to retrieve the released Armenian prisoners.

“Thanks to our diplomats as well as our soldiers who were mobilized for this operation,” Macron wrote on Twitter.In October last year, Azeri troops expelled ethnic Armenian forces from territory they had controlled since the 1990s in and around the Nagorno-Karabakh region, before Russia brokered a ceasefire.

Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia had subsequently said in November last year that they had signed an agreement to end the military conflict over the Nagorno-Karabakh region after more than a month of bloodshed.

(REUTERS)