The United States welcomed the October 27 joint statement issued by Presidents Dmitry Medvedev, Serzh Sargsyan and Ilham Aliyev in which Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed to the exchange of prisoners of war and the return of bodies with the assistance of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs and the International Committee of the Red Cross.

“We appreciate President Medvedev's personal efforts to reach this agreement, which aims to build confidence between the parties and to strengthen the 1994 ceasefire,” U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs Philip Crowley told a daily press briefing.

“This joint statement represents a positive development in the ongoing OSCE Minsk Group process to reach a peaceful resolution to the conflict of Nagorno Karabakh and we look forward to seeing its implementation as soon as possible,” he said.