Azernews.Az

BAKU – The United States and France – the two countries brokering settlement of the Upper (Nagorno) Karabakh conflict – have welcomed the agreement of the Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents to swap prisoners of war and the bodies of soldiers killed in clashes.

The joint statement on the issue was signed with the mediation of Russia, the other mediating country, during the trilateral talks held in the southern Russian city of Astrakhan on Wednesday with President Dmitry Medvedev’s participation.

France calls on Azerbaijan and Armenia to swiftly fulfill their commitment to exchange prisoners of war and the dead bodies of soldiers, its foreign ministry said in a statement.

Paris said the Astrakhan agreement could ease tension and reduce frequent ceasefire violations on the line of contact of the two countries’ troops, adding that it therefore expects these commitments to be urgently fulfilled.

Azerbaijan and Armenia have been locked in conflict for two decades. OSCE-brokered peace talks kicked off after a lengthy war that ended with the signing of a shaky cease-fire in 1994. Armenian armed forces continue to occupy over 20 percent of Azerbaijan’s internationally recognized territory. Peace talks have been largely fruitless so far.

Armenia holds two Azerbaijani prisoners, one civilian and two dead bodies. Six Armenian servicemen and a family of five people as well as one dead body are held in Azerbaijan, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Baku office.

Regarding ways of settling the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, the French Foreign Ministry’s spokesman said the problem could find its solution strictly through dialog.

"Our country is availing of all means, in conjunction with the U.S. and Russia as part of the OSCE Minsk Group, for Azerbaijan and Armenia to reach a fair and lasting solution of the Karabakh conflict."

US State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said Thursday the United States welcomes the joint statement by Presidents Medvedev, Sargsyan and Aliyev.

"We appreciate President Medvedev’s personal efforts to reach this agreement, which aims to build confidence between the parties and to strengthen the 1994 ceasefire. This joint statement represents a positive development in the ongoing OSCE Minsk Group process to reach a peaceful resolution to the conflict of Nagorno-Karabakh and we look forward to seeing its implementation as soon as possible."

Russia has welcomed the outcomes of the Astrakhan meeting as well. A Kremlin source has told the local RIA Novosti news agency that Moscow intends to continue making an effort to achieve Karabakh settlement. "It appears that the views that are sounding with a somewhat cautious optimism are substantiated."

The source also said the trilateral talks were related to Moscow’s aspiration to foster a shift in "Armenia and Azerbaijan’s estranged positions".

"The Russian president is knowingly undertaking this work that doesn’t bring him any dividends. And these efforts will proceed further."

The Kremlin official added that it would be "meaningless and unrealistic" to expect a breakthrough at every meeting. He said the gist of the matter was to ensure stability in the Caucasus region and normalization in the relations between neighboring Azerbaijan and Armenia.