The release of Azerbaijanis kept hostage by Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh would be a humanitarian gesture that would be a very good step forward in resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the US Ambassador to Azerbaijan Robert Cekuta told journalists on March 10 as he was commenting on Dilgam Asgarov and Shahbaz Guliyev still being held hostage by Armenia.

According to the ambassador, the matter was also brought up by US Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland during her visit to the region.

In July of last year, Russian citizen Dilgam Asgarov and Azerbaijani citizen Shahbaz Guliyev were taken hostage by Armenian forces while on their way to Kalbajar to visit the graves of their families. Another Azerbaijani citizen along with them, Hasan Hasanov, an IDP from Jabrayil, was shot dead. His body was taken over from the enemy and buried in Baku. On 19 December 2014, a court of the separatist Nagorno-karabakh regime sentenced D. Asgarov to lifetime imprisonment and S. Guliyev to 22 years in prison. The illegal regime’s so-called court of appeal upheld the judgment.