Aram Hakobian, a deputy director of the National Security Service (NSS), declined to give any details of those efforts or say if they have made any progress.
The prisoners include six Armenian soldiers who were captured by Azerbaijani forces on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border on May 27. The incident heightened tensions at several portions of the frontier where troops from the two countries have been locked in a standoff for the last three weeks.
The Armenian Defense Ministry initially threatened to take military action to free its servicemen. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian indicated, however, that Yerevan will continue to exercise caution in the border dispute that has prompted serious concern from the international community.
“There must be negotiations, only negotiations, there will be no use of force,” Hakobian told reporters. “We have to try to bring back our remaining prisoners as a result of negotiations.”
Hakobian said that although Armenian-Azerbaijani negotiations on the dispute were stopped on May 19 relevant officials from the two sides continue to communicate with each other. He did not elaborate.
The Armenian and Russian defense ministers met in Moscow on May 28 to discuss the dispute. According to the Armenian Defense Ministry, they agreed on “necessary steps” to resolve it.
The ministry said on Monday that Defense Ministers Sergei Shoigu and Vagharshak Harutiunian discussed ways of implementing that agreement when they spoke by phone three days later. It did not give any details.