I appealed to the Armenian government for diplomatic support, still no response - Veronika Zonneband.
An international women's humanitarian delegation will be ready to leave for Baku as soon as access to Armenian prisoners and security conditions for its participants can be agreed upon.
This was stated in the statement of Veronika Sonband, the wife of the philanthropist Ruben Vardanian, who is being held captive in Azerbaijan.
Women from different countries, known for their social and professional activities, joined the initiative and were ready to visit all the Armenian prisoners held in the Umbaki prison complex in Azerbaijan and give them letters, photographs and packages from their relatives.
Since June 2026, I have contacted the Ombudsman of Azerbaijan several times, offering different formats for the visit: with the entire delegation, a small group, or accompanied by a representative of her office. I also asked to agree on the security terms. Unfortunately, I never received an answer.
Instead, during this time, publications appeared in the Azerbaijani media about my possible arrest if I went to Baku. We are also concerned that since August 25th, even Ruben's local lawyer has not been allowed to see him. We would like to hope that this issue will be resolved.
I also appealed to the Armenian government for diplomatic support. After our meeting at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on August 17 with human rights activist Sirnoosh Sahkian, a responsible person has not yet been appointed, and our written request still remains unanswered.
Economic relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan are developing, Armenian delegations visit Azerbaijan. This indicates that there are all the prerequisites for organizing a humanitarian visit, and the topic of the visit of Armenian prisoners should be included in the agenda of one of such visits.
We decided not to delay the delivery of the letters that the delegation was supposed to personally deliver to the Armenian prisoners.