The commander of the Russian peacekeeping troops in Artsakh, Rustam Muradov, had said that the authorities are misguiding society in connection to the fake news about the return of prisoners of war. A My Step deputy, Alexei Sandikov, told reporters that Russia took on a mediating role in this stage of the conflict resolution, and the return of prisoners of war was one of the most important issues on the agenda when the leaders of both countries met. “The Azerbaijani side is creating artificial problems and making comments on its perspective that they are not prisoners of war, but saboteurs. That affects all the points of the November 9th agreement, especially regarding the implementation of the point on returning prisoners of war and captives.”
As for the government creating false expectations that the prisoners of war will return, Sandikov said that he was not involved in those works and could not say what the motives were.
He said that all citizens of Armenia want the prisoners of war to return. The emotional background, the terrible situation, and the discouraging atmosphere have not affected people’s hopes that the prisoners of war will return. “These speculations in the information sector and passing the ball from one field to another create an artificial agenda without thinking about the fact that we are playing with the emotions of our fellow citizens.” Upon the observation that those agendas come from the government, Sandikov said that it exists in the political field in general. “We are causing an even more emotional background in the settlement of an already difficult issue.”
When asked if he believes that Pashinyan will be able to return the prisoners of war or if he is powerless here, Sandikov said, “I believe that he is capable because the issue here is not just one person, but a state. That is the most important benefit of our state, and I think that the head of our state is implementing it. He wants to and is obligated to resolve that issue.”
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When asked what the government is doing to prove, for example, that the group of soldiers captured from the Shirak region are not saboteurs in the aftermath of the November 9th agreement, and if it is possible that Azerbaijan is trying to force new concessions upon us in exchange for the return of prisoners, Sandikov said, “I prefer to speak about things that I am informed about. It’s the same as asking me about space.”
Hripsime Jebejyan
