Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan, during a televised press conference today, said he stands by his 2021 decision to provide Baku with maps of areas in Karabakh mined by Armenian forces and captured by Azerbaijan in the 2020 war.

A reporter asked Pashinyan if his decision decreased Armenia’s leverage over Azerbaijan to release Armenian POWs.

“I don't consider it a wrong decision. If we sincerely want peace in our region, I consider it a manifestation of our sincerity. If you think that if we didn't give the maps, there would be no prisoners now, I don't think so. In the end, we had to give those maps. The international community called us to take unilateral steps in the direction of increasing trust, and we took that step as a humanitarian step to demonstrate our sincerity in peace efforts," Pashinyan said.

In 2021, Pashinyan denied that he handed over minefield maps to Baku in exchange for the release of Armenian war captives held in Azerbaijan.