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A cabinet meeting was held on Thursday, chaired by Armenian Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinyan. Before discussing the agenda, Avinyan touched upon issues related to the process of prisoners of war (POWs) swap, the government’s press service reported

“As you may know, the first phase of POWs exchange took place this week. Work is underway to verify data on captives and carry on the process of exchanging POWs. In this regard, negotiations are underway with the Azerbaijani side, involving the ICRC and the Russian side.”

Referring to the incident in Khtsaberd, he noted: “The second issue concerns the incident in Khtsaberd, I mean the people who most likely found themselves in captivity. Data is being verified at the moment. Chief of General Staff Onik Gasparyan is in Artsakh to discuss and understand the situation on the ground. Talks are being held with the Azerbaijani side on this issue, and we expect to find a solution in the near future.”

Concerning the issue of Hin Shen, the deputy prime minister said there had been some tensions there. “At the moment, there is communication between the sides. The issue is not completely resolved, but the Russian peacekeepers are stationed in that area. We expect that we will have a final solution to the issues related to Hin Shen in the near future. The defense minister is in Syunik Province. Border troops are being deployed along our borders in Syunik. I am confident that the Ministry of Defense will give updates on the work being done during the day.”

Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure Suren Papikyan said he keeps in close touch with Syunik regional administration. “At this stage, the governor is working with the Border Guard Service and our partners from the Ministry of Defense. The border troops are being deployed along the borders of the Republic of Armenia. To avoid any misinterpretation or misinformation, I must state that the borders of the Republic of Armenia are controlled by our armed forces,” the minister said.