It is difficult for Armenia and Azerbaijan to exchange information on prisoners of war (POWs) and missing persons because of the lack of direct contact between the two countries, Armenian Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan said. 

The Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders agreed in Paris on Oct. 27 to exchange information on POWs and missing persons. Ohanyan said that would be hard to achieve. 

“I am the chairman of the state commission for POWs and missing persons and I should say that it is hard to expect progress on this because of the lack of contact between our states,” Ohanyan said. “We work with each other through the mediation of international organizations.”

The two former Soviet republics have been in a state of war since Armenia captured Azerbaijan’s Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts in the early 1990s. 

Major hostilities ended with a ceasefire in 1994 but no peace agreement has been signed despite talks mediated by Russia, France and the United States.

Bakudaily.Az