Advisor to the President of Azerbaijan Hikmet Hajiyev stated that the Azerbaijani side considers the informal meeting between President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan within the framework of the meeting of CIS leaders in St. Petersburg as an effective and constructive interaction, that contributes to the promotion of the peace agenda between the two countries.
Hajiyev highly appreciated the joint statement of the Armenian Prime Minister's Office and the Azerbaijani President's administration on December 7, according to which Azerbaijan released 32 Armenian servicemen, and Armenia released 2 Azerbaijani servicemen. He described the statement as historic, adding that it showed that if the parties work together and trust each other, progress is ensured.
The official also welcomed the desire of third countries to contribute to the settlement process, however, according to him, Armenia and Azerbaijan are responsible for establishing peace. He emphasized the importance of the 3+3 consultation platform, emphasized the importance of solving problems in the South Caucasus with the involvement of regional actors. At the same time, he did not rule out the continuation of Armenian-Azerbaijani negotiations on other platforms.
Hajiyev also once again expressed concern that Armenia is against the opening of the so-called ‘Zangezur’ corridor through its territory. “That's why we chose an alternative route, through the territory of Iran,” the Azerbaijani official added.
The advisor to the President of Azerbaijan once again accused France of allegedly sowing instability in the region and providing military support to Armenia.
