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Armenia is ready to exchange prisoners of war (POWs) with Azerbaijan according to the "all for all" principle and hopes for a similar position in Baku, Armenian Foreign Minister Ara Ayvazian told a joint news conference with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov after the talks in Moscow on Monday.

Thankful for the warm reception and the constructive dialogue, Ayvazian highlighted the fact that this was his first visit to Moscow as Armenia’s foreign minister.

"I am convinced that today's talks will be a new impetus for the further strengthening and development of our allied relations," the minister said.

Ayvazian said the meeting with Lavrov, naturally, focused on the discussion of the regional situation in recent months in light of the November 9 statement.

"Russia played a key role in stopping the Turkish-Azerbaijani aggression against the people of Nagorno-Karabakh, which lasted for more than six weeks,” the FM said.

In Ayvazian’s words, the deployment of Russian peacekeepers in Artsakh creates conditions for restoration of peace and stability in the region and guarantees for prevention of provocations by Azerbaijan, its regional sponsor Turkey and terrorist groups recruited by them.

"In the context of humanitarian issues, the immediate and unconditional exchange of prisoners of war and captives, as well as the return of remains is a key priority. We expressed our readiness to conduct an exchange in line with the “all for all” principle and expect that Azerbaijan will not make any attempts to disrupt the process,” he underlined.

Ara Ayvazian also called attention to the inhuman treatment of Armenian prisoners of war and civilians held in Azerbaijani captivity.

"Our POWs, civilians who did not manage to flee their homes, were brutally tortured and beheaded. The manifestations of vandalism and sacrilege against the Armenian monuments, religious sites, churches and temples of Artsakh are also widespread,” the minister stated.

He noted that Turkey, as the main instigator and inspirer of the Azerbaijani aggression against the people of Karabakh, continues to pursue a policy that is detrimental to the region.

"Turkey must withdraw its armed personnel and its affiliated terrorist groups from the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone and the South Caucasus in general. There are no clear signs of the withdrawal of foreign terrorist fighters from the conflict zone yet. On the contrary, there is reliable information on Azerbaijan's plans to expand the geography of deployment of militants, terrorists and mercenaries and to resettle them to the occupied territories of Artsakh. During today's talks, it was once again outlined for the restoration of all rights of the 150,000 population of Artsakh," Ayvazian said.