YEREVAN. April 12 (Interfax) - The return of Armenian prisoners of war (POWs) remains a priority of the Russian leadership and the Russian peacekeepers, Russian Ambassador to Armenia Sergei Kopyrkin said.
"This is a priority of both the Russian leadership and the peacekeeping contingent. The work has been hard and persistent. As you know, some progress has been made, many prisoners are back, but the work is continuing," Kopyrkin told reporters on Monday.
As to whether commander of the Russian peacekeeping contingent in Nagorno-Karabakh Restam Muradov will be continuing such efforts, the ambassador said, "I am positive he will."
Journalists asked Kopyrkin to comment on Baku's statements, according to which there are no Armenian POWs in Azerbaijan. The ambassador said it was hard for him to comment on the statements coming from Azerbaijan.
"To my knowledge, as I understand, the work has been ongoing. And this is a priority of the Russian side," he said.