MOSCOW, December 1. /TASS/. Russia sees no signs of intentional delay of the exchange of the prisoners of war and the bodies of the fallen between the sides of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, however, objective complications for this process do exist, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Tuesday.
“It is difficult to speak about any intentional steps towards intentional delay of this process, we do not see any. But it is a fact, that objective complications exist, which, I hope, will be resolved faster now,” Lavrov said at a press-conference after the CSTO Foreign Ministers Council online meeting.
According to the Foreign Minister, “it was very difficult to work on these issues,” considering the terrain and the specifics of the combat, as well as the lack of precise lists of missing people.
“In order to successfully exchange the prisoners an the bodies, the situation in this field must be accounted. And, of course, military commanders on both sides must have very precise lists of missing people, so that we can work on it substantially,” the Minister noted.
He added that assisting with prisoners and bodies exchange has become one of the main goals of the Russian peacekeepers in Nagorno-Karabakh. They have taken a number of specific steps that extent, the Minister said.
“We are interested in solving this humanitarian problem as soon as possible,” Lavrov underscored.
“I would note that our peacekeepers paid special attention to these problems at the time when the key international institution – the International Red Cross Committee – evacuated its employees from Nagorno-Karabakh. So the fact that our peacekeepers provided a shoulder to lean on is very important from a practical standpoint,” the top diplomat said.
He noted that the Red Cross Committee employees have already returned to Stepanakert and plan to increase its presence in the region to 400 people, and increase its funding request for activities in Nagorno-Karabakh to 45 million Swiss francs.
“So we will hope that, with the involvement of specialists from this international organization, it will go faster. Our peacekeepers will, of course, assist, as much as they can,” the top diplomat concluded.
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