"Yesterday there was a celebration in Armenia related to the return of 15 Armenian POWs, meanwhile for the opposition there was mourning," said PM candidate Nikol Pashinyan in Yeghvard during a meeting with residents within the framework of the election campaign, talking about the maps handed over to Azerbaijan in exchange for the return of POWs.

"Yes, maps of minefields were handed over to Azerbaijan yesterday, but they want to give the impression that we gave all that we had. I can not say that a non-tangible part was given, a tangible part was given, but it's still a small part. They ask how come the captives returned now, in this period. When US Deputy Secretary of State Philip Reeker came to Armenia, he said that they were going to make a serious effort to revive the process of returning the POWs. He asked if we were ready to offer anything in return. Maps were issued some time ago. These are maps of the areas that are behind Azerbaijan's territory due to known circumstances. It is strange that although there have been many cases of civilians being killed in minefields, Azerbaijan did not take steps to advance this case, " he said.

Pashinyan went on saying that they have not exchanged maps with the POWs, but have taken a step in return for a step and are ready to do it again.

"When we saw that Azerbaijan stopped the process of returning our POWs, we stopped the process of providing maps. 15 families are happy again. And now we are talking not only about the return of 15 POWs but also about the revival of the process of returning the POWs," Pashinyan added.