Any Armenia-Azerbaijan treaty must include prisoner release, says  Moderna co-founder 

ArmInfo. Any Armenia-Azerbaijan treaty must include prisoner release, Noubar  Afeyan said in an interview with the CNN. 

Touching upon the detention of former Artsakh State Minister Ruben  Vardanyan in Azerbaijan, Afeyan noted that a shameful trial of  Armenian prisoners is taking place in Baku. 

He recalled the ethnic cleansing committed by Azerbaijan in Artsakh  and the capture of a number of Artsakh figures, including Ruben  Vardanyan. The documented charges brought against Ruben Vardanyan, on  250,000 pages, are written in a language he does not speak, with no  translation, so he is accused of something he does not understand,  Afeyan noted.

He said that Ruben Vardanyan was given limited access for short  telephone conversations. According to him, only representatives of  the ICRC were able to visit him, other international structures do  not have access and currently a closed so-called trial is taking  place in Azerbaijan. 

When asked to express his attitude towards the completion of  negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan on the draft peace treaty  and its possible signing, Afeyan said that the Trump administration  had very clear, direct messages on this issue, including the release  of Armenian prisoners held in Baku. He noted that he would like to  see a real signed peace agreement.

According to Afeyan, the question arises whether the agreement will  be signed at all, because it is absolutely clear that Azerbaijan is  using this war, this conflict for its own internal purposes. Any  agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan must include the release of  prisoners, he noted.

For the full interview follow link 

https://edition.cnn.com/2025/03/17/Tv/video/amanpour-afeyan