Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan today received representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), led by Head of the ICRC delegation to Armenia Claire Meytraud.

The Prime Minister voiced his concerns over the scope of work to be done to ensure the return of the captives and the search for the missing and bodies of the dead. Nikol Pashinyan stressed the need to increase the ICRC’s resources, including human resources, and noted that the Government of the Republic of Armenia is ready to make every effort to promote the most effective and rapid implementation of the above-mentioned work. The Prime Minister noted the need for the ICRC to provide regular information on the condition, health and detention conditions of detainees.

Claire Meytraud briefed the Prime Minister on progress in their efforts. She provided information on meetings with Armenian captives. The Head of the ICRC delegation in Armenia expressed satisfaction with the cooperation of the Nagorno Karabakh authorities with the Russian peacekeepers, the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Emergency Situations, the Ministry of Defense of Armenia.

At the same time, Ms. Meytraud especially emphasized the importance of the map provided by the RA Ministry of Defense with the markings of specific places, which increases the efficiency of the search. She cited the existence of mined areas and bad weather conditions as a serious impediment to the ongoing search activities.

The meeting discussed issues related to effective cooperation in the aforementioned areas and to the process of exchanging war prisoners.