Yerevan /Mediamax/. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev stated that “Armenia has been ruled by war criminals for nearly thirty decades.”

Speaking at the UN General Assembly session in New York on September 25, Aliyev said that “In 2020, after almost 30 years of ineffective negotiations, Azerbaijan was forced to exercise its legitimate right to self-defense under Article 51 of the UN Charter.” 

“Right after our victorious war, Azerbaijan declared its readiness to open a new page in relations with Armenia based on mutual recognition of territorial integrity and sovereignty. We proposed five basic principles rooted in international law. We tabled the proposal for a Peace Treaty. Then we initiated a negotiation process on its draft text, which lasted from October 2022 to summer 2025. Despite several attempts to derail the process, the negotiations produced positive results, as they were conducted on a strict bilateral basis, free from any kind of external interference,” the Azerbaijani president stated.

“On August 8 this year, the Foreign Ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia in Washington, in the White House, in the presence of the leaders of the United States, Azerbaijan and Armenia initialed the text of the peace agreement. The same day, the president of Azerbaijan and the Prime Minister of Armenia signed the Joint Declaration. President of the United States Donald Trump also signed it as a witness. Moreover, Azerbaijan and Armenia jointly appealed for the closure of the OSCE Minsk Group and related structures, as an obsolete mechanism no longer relevant to the peace process. Accordingly, on 1 September, the OSCE adopted a decision to permanently close these structures.

Regional connectivity has been at the core of our vision for lasting peace. Another key outcome of the Washington Summit is the “Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity” (TRIPP), which will ensure unimpeded access through the Zangazur corridor and foster regional connectivity,” Aliyev said.