Armenia’s Appeals for Help Over 19 POWs Fail as Azerbaijan Tells Foreign Governments to Stay Out

Armenia has unsuccessfully sought help from several foreign governments to gain access to 19 Armenians detained in Azerbaijan, Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan said Wednesday, revealing that Baku had warned those countries against getting involved.

Speaking in parliament on October 28, Mirzoyan said Yerevan had approached international partners in hopes of arranging visits to the detainees or securing their release. None of those efforts had succeeded.

"We have asked, we have appealed, and they were told to stay out of this issue. Do you want the bitter reality? This is it," Mirzoyan told lawmakers.

He said Armenia now sees direct negotiations with Azerbaijan as the main path toward bringing the detainees home.

"We have a path forward, we are working on it, and that path runs directly through our dialogue with Azerbaijan," he said.

Mirzoyan declined to identify the countries Armenia had approached, saying their involvement could create diplomatic difficulties and jeopardize further cooperation.

"We have done things I can speak about from this podium, and things I would rather not discuss here because I would have to name other countries and might put them in a difficult position," he said.

The foreign minister rejected suggestions that Armenia had failed to pursue opportunities for international mediation. He said the government had already explored those options, including proposals to involve third countries in visiting the detainees or negotiating their release.

"We have reached out, but it hasn't worked. I don't want to name those countries because we will continue working with them. It isn't working through third countries," he said.

Mirzoyan said the detainees remain a priority in Armenia's talks with Azerbaijan, but he was reluctant to discuss diplomatic efforts that had produced no results.

"The result here is very specific and measurable: Is the detained person released or not?" he said.

Azerbaijan continues to hold 19 Armenians, including former political and military leaders of Nagorno-Karabakh, the Armenian-populated region that Azerbaijan took control of following a military offensive in September 2023.

Among those detained are former Nagorno-Karabakh presidents Arkady Ghukasyan, Bako Sahakyan and Arayik Harutyunyan, along with former State Minister Ruben Vardanyan and other senior officials.

More than 120,000 ethnic Armenians fled Nagorno-Karabakh for Armenia following the Azerbaijani offensive, bringing an end to decades of Armenian self-rule in the region.

The continued detention of former Karabakh leaders remains a major unresolved issue between Yerevan and Baku as the two governments pursue a peace agreement.

Azerbaijan last released Armenian detainees on January 14, 2026, when Davit Davtyan, Gevorg Sujyan, Vigen Euljekjian and Vagif Khachatryan were returned to Armenia.

Their release reduced the officially reported number of Armenians held in Azerbaijan from 23 to 19.

In August, Armenian National Assembly Vice Speaker Ruben Rubinyan said more than 200 Armenian prisoners had returned home in previous years.

Concerns over access to Armenian detainees have grown since the International Committee of the Red Cross closed its office in Baku in September 2025 at the request of Azerbaijani authorities.

The organization had served as an important channel between detainees and their families, providing humanitarian visits and monitoring detention conditions.

The ICRC reported visiting people held in Azerbaijan in connection with the conflict on December  24 and 25, 2025. Its representatives assessed their health, treatment and detention conditions and helped them communicate with relatives.

The return of prisoners was among the commitments made under the Russian-brokered ceasefire agreement that ended the 2020 war between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

The November 9, 2020, agreement called for the exchange of prisoners of war, hostages and other detainees, as well as the remains of those killed.

Despite subsequent prisoner exchanges and ongoing diplomatic talks, 19 Armenians remain in Azerbaijani custody.

Mirzoyan's comments Wednesday made clear that Armenia's attempts to involve other governments have not brought the detainees closer to freedom. Yerevan says it will continue raising the issue directly with Baku, but no new agreement on their release has been announced.

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