Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to make representations to the government of Armenia to (1) provide maps of landmines in the Nagorno-Karabakh region to the government of Azerbaijan, and (2) cooperate with the government of Azerbaijan in clearing landmines in the region.

The Minister for Europe and Americas continues to raise with both Governments the importance of resolving all outstanding matters related to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, including the return of mine maps, through negotiations facilitated by the OSCE Minsk Group. She did so most recently in her meetings with the Armenian and Azerbaijani Ambassadors on 4 and 17 November respectively. We welcome the most recent returns of prisoners of war in exchange for mine maps. The UK continues to urge both Governments to settle all matters related to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict through negotiation under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group.

In June the Ministry of Defence sent Counter Explosives Experts to survey parts of Azerbaijan worst effected by unexplored ordnance to understand how the UK can best support Azerbaijan in this area. The Minister for Europe and Americas announced in September that the UK had contributed £500,000 to a United Nations Development Programme initiative to take action on mines left in the region as a legacy of the conflict in and around Nagorno-Karabakh. These funds will assist with training and personnel to support de-mining in Azerbaijan.