Armenian Foreign Minister Ara Ayvazyan told reporters today in Yerevan that his office remains focused on facilitating the return of Armenian POWs and other war captives now held by Azerbaijan.

Ayvazyan made the remarks following an earlier closed-door meeting with members of the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Foreign Relations.

Ayvazyan confessed that the issue was a thorny one and will take time.

He said that while there’s a need to establish regional peace and a basis for development, it is first necessary to create an atmosphere of trust.