Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan accused his predecessors—former presidents Levon Ter-Petrosyan, Robert Kocharyan, and Serzh Sargsyan—of concealing the truth about the Karabakh settlement from the Armenian people. At a briefing in Yerevan, the head of the Armenian government noted that all these politicians in opposition to the current government recognized Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan but did not disclose this information to the public.
Germany welcomes the bold step taken by Azerbaijan and Armenia, which creates confidence on the path to a just and lasting peace between the two countries. German Ambassador to Azerbaijan Ralf Horlemann wrote about this on his Twitter account.
The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, called the statement by Armenia and Azerbaijan on the release of prisoners an unprecedented opening of political dialogue. He called on the leaders of the two countries to complete the process of signing a peace agreement as soon as possible.
“We applaud Azerbaijani President Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Pashinyan for their joint efforts to lay the foundations for a more prosperous future for the peoples of the South Caucasus,” US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement.
The day before, Baku and Yerevan announced an exchange of prisoners of war. Armenia releases two Azerbaijani soldiers, and Azerbaijan releases 32 Armenian soldiers. The joint statement said that Armenia and Azerbaijan confirmed their intention to normalize relations and reach a peace treaty based on respect for the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity.