Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev stated that the country must be "ten times stronger" than Armenia "every day," explaining this by the need to maintain military superiority even after the initialing of a peace agreement between the two countries. He outlined his position on October 2 at the 8th Congress of the ruling New Azerbaijan Party in Baku.
During the government hour in the Armenian parliament, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan was asked why the country chose the EU mission rather than the CSTO to monitor and resolve the situation on the border with Azerbaijan.
Pashinyan said that Armenia asked the CSTO clarify its area of responsibility, but received no response. Representatives of the European Union clearly outlined the territory of Armenia, and came to monitor it.
Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that the plan for the deployment of peacekeepers had been proposed to Yerevan, but the Armenian side wanted to categorically condemn Baku’s actions. This would prevent the CSTO from resolving the situation.
According to Pashinyan, Yerevan is ready to open railway and automobile communication with Azerbaijan as soon as possible. This will significantly increase Armenia’s trade with the EAEU. He noted that the country is interested in unblocking regional communications.