(Horizon Media / YEREVAN) — Armenia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has expressed readiness to meet with Veronika Zonabend, the wife of Armenian philanthropist and former Artsakh State Minister Ruben Vardanyan, who remains imprisoned in Azerbaijan, to discuss the situation of Armenians held in Baku and efforts aimed at securing their release. The move follows an open letter Zonabend addressed to Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on July 8, in which she announced her intention to travel to Baku as part of an international humanitarian delegation of women. The inquiry also raised concerns over the prolonged absence of independent humanitarian access to Armenian prisoners and hostages in Azerbaijan. The International Committee of the Red Cross last visited Armenian detainees in Baku in December 2025, prompting renewed questions about efforts to restore regular contact with families and access by international humanitarian and human rights organizations. Ruben Vardanyan is among the former political and military leaders of Artsakh currently imprisoned in Azerbaijan following the September 2023 Azerbaijani military offensive and the subsequent forced displacement of Artsakh’s Armenian population.