ArmInfo.On the whole, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev positively assessed the activities of the Russian peacekeeping forces in Nagorno-Karabakh. Thus, in an interview with Anadolu, he noted that, of course, there are issues that Azerbaijan does not like, for which they have claims.
"First of all, this is due to illegal visits of foreign citizens to our lands. We have repeatedly raised this issue. Because Karabakh (Artsakh) is our territory. No foreign citizens or vehicles can enter these areas without our permission. A permission should be received from us. However, I can tell you for sure that this issue has not been resolved one hundred percent. At the same time, I must also note that illegal entry of foreign citizens into Karabakh is recorded extremely rarely. I also want to note that as a result of our policy and the persistence of this comes to an end. But, of course, we would like full respect for our sovereignty and territorial integrity. Official representatives of Russia, high-ranking officials declare that Karabakh is the territory of Azerbaijan. In this case, the servicemen serving there should also carry out their activities in accordance with these statements, "Aliyev said, forgetting that the Nagorno Karabakh seceded from Azerbaijan in accordance with the normative acts of the USSR, just as Azerbaijan left the Soviet Union at one time, and in the referendum, practically the entire population of Artsakh voted for secession from the Azerbaijan Republic and proclamation of independence.
At the same time, the Azerbaijani leader touched upon the topic related to the activities of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs, who have an international mandate to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and assured that Azerbaijan did not receive any proposals from the Minsk Group after the Second Karabakh war. "And since there are no initiatives, it is inappropriate to talk about the activities of the Minsk Group. A year has passed. What do you propose? You say that the problem needs to be solved. I declare on behalf of Azerbaijan that the conflict has been resolved. So, proposals should be received. What should they do? I expressed my opinion. The rest is in their responsibility, "he said.
Aliyev once again touched upon the intentions of Armenia to acquire weapons from Russia and assured that the Russian side had denied the information about the purchases, although it was first heard from the lips of Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. He once again expressed dissatisfaction with the fact that Yerevan intends to acquire new weapons, noting that this is not acceptable for Azerbaijan. Aliyev apparently forgot that as recently as last week he announced Azerbaijan's order from Russia for a new batch of weapons, and this is not counting the already signed large arms contacts with Israel and Turkey. Thus, speaking about the "peacefulness" of Azerbaijan, Aliyev decided that Baku should decide who should acquire weapons and who should not, while actively arming its army and maintaining a high level of defense costs - $ 2.7 billion allocated to 2022 budget -