Azerbaijan-Armenia: U.S. 'Welcomes' Prisoners Exchange, Reports About Confidence-Building Efforts

The United States on Wednesday welcomed the return of the Armenian and Azerbaijani detainees, and reports that additional confidence-building measures are being discussed, the State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller told TURAN's Washington correspondent during daily briefing.

"The Assistant Secretary [James O'Brien] was in the region. This is something that we have encouraged, actively encouraged in talks with both governments," Miller said.

The exchange involved the release of 32 Armenians mostly captured two years ago. In return, Armenia handed over two Azerbaijani soldiers held since this April.

Miller went on to add: "We will continue to work with Armenia and Azerbaijan to move the process forward... We continue to believe that peace is possible if both parties are willing to pursue it."

In the meantime, he refrained from sharing any details about the forthcoming potential meeting of the foreign ministers in Washington.

Baku and Yerevan last week announced the planned prisoner exchange saying that they "reconfirm their intention to normalise relations and to reach a peace treaty on the basis of respect for the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity".